Teaching Science to Save the Planet - College of...
Transcript of Teaching Science to Save the Planet - College of...
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION • SPRING/SUMMER 2010
Charles W. “Andy” Anderson
Teaching Science to Save the PlanetLESSONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE » Our Infl uence on Rehabilitation Counseling » New (Post-BA) Fellowships for Future Teachers
NEW EDUCATORv o l . 1 5 • n o . 2 • s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0
The New Educator is published twice a year by the Office of the Dean, College of Education, Michigan State University, for the faculty, students, staff , alumni and friends of the college.
We welcome your comments and news items. Please address your letters to: New Educator, College of Education, Michigan State University, 518 Erickson Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824-1034 or to [email protected].
visit us on the webwww.education.msu.edu
college of education alumni associationwww.education.msu.edu/alumni
deanCarole Ames
president, college of educationalumni associationWendy Darga
managing editor / writerNicole Geary
contributorsJason CodyAndy Henion
photographyEmily BrozovicTom Stanulis
layout / designCharlie Sharp, Sharp Des!gns
printing / bindingMillbrook Printing, Grand Ledge, MI
on the coverProfessor of science education Charles W. “Andy” Anderson says traditional science standards should be reshaped to grow environmental science literacy for students. photo by emily brozovic.
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer.
Visible along Michigan Avenue in East Lansing, these glazed terracotta figures of
“Children Reading” greet visitors outside the entrance to Williams Hall. American
artist Clivia Calder created the sculpture approximately 70 years ago.
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F E A T U R E S
10 TAPPING ANOTHER TEACHING FORCEMSU off ers new fellowships to place teachers in high-need schools
12 MAKING PROGRESS (FOR THE PLANET)Andy Anderson leads MSU research on learning progressions in science education
18 DEDICATION FOR DISABILITYMichael Leahy’s research, leadership defines standards for rehabilitation counselors
22 ON POLICYShakrani debates Zhao’s ideas on NCLB, and its impact on achievement gaps
26 GOING BACK TO SCHOOLJohn Dirkx discusses education for underprepared adult learners
38 TO THE END OF THE EARTHScience teacher participates in research expedition to Antarctica
52 FINAL THOUGHTS Melinda Mangin: Instructional teacher
leaders need more university support
S E C T I O N S
03 UPFRONT
26 FACULTY
34 STUDENTS
38 ALUMNI
48 DEVELOPMENT
TOM
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MSU COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
FROM THE DEAN
As the 2009–10 academic year comes to an end,
we look back on what has been a very challenging
year in these difficult economic times. MSU has
had to plan for significant campus-wide budget
reductions, and indeed, higher education institu-
tions around the country are doing the same thing.
In the College of Education, we have now outlined
many areas for reduction that will unfold over the
next two years.
By no means, however, has this year been absent
of accomplishments, new initiatives and opportuni-
ties. We continue to expand the Global Educators
Cohort Program in teacher preparation. In fact, this
spring, gecp students will be heading to China on a
faculty-led study trip that will involve visits to uni-
versities, schools and classrooms. In this issue of the
New Educator, you will read about our new part-
nership with Southwest University in Chongqing,
China that involves an annual exchange of graduate
students. Th rough this partnership, students from
each participating university will be immersed in
the culture and learn about the educational system
of the host country. As you well know, our faculty is
globally engaged and their connections are bringing
rich opportunities for our students to gain global
experiences and competencies.
Th is year also brought us two new fellowship
programs for post-baccalaureate students. Th e
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Founda-
tion, with funding and collaboration from the
W. K. Kellogg Foundation, will sponsor up to 20
Fellows who will be selected annually to enroll
in our master’s degree program that will lead to
teacher certification. Th is program is targeted for
students with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics
or science with the goal of increasing the number
of certified science and math teachers in high-
needs schools. Th e second program, the Woodrow
Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowship, will
provide fellowships to post-baccalaureate students
of color to achieve teacher certification through our
master’s program. We expect to receive our first
cohort of Fellows in each program beginning with
the 2011–12 academic year. Our selection for par-
ticipation in these fellowship programs is both an
honor and recognition of the quality of our teacher
preparation program.
And, in spite of the economy, this past year we
documented several new endowments for scholar-
ships and fellowships. For the 2010–11 academic
year, over 157 students in the College of Education
will receive funds from 87 endowed scholarships
and fellowships. In total, we are awarding over
$600,000 from named scholarships and fellowships
to students in education.
As we close this year, we take pride in all that
has been accomplished by our very talented and
hard-working faculty even in difficult times. As we
look forward, we will manage the budgetary condi-
tions that face our college, and we will continue
to look for new opportunities and embrace new
initiatives. Have no doubt, we are not standing still,
we are planning for the future, charting new direc-
tions, and creating an exciting portfolio of research,
academic programs, and outreach while staying
true to our mission and maintaining the highest
standards in all that we do.
I hope you enjoy this issue of the New Educator,
which provides a glimpse of the range of projects
and programs that makes this college and its faculty
major players on the state, national and interna-
tional stages. As always, we appreciate your loyalty,
commitment and support.
Carole Ames
“We are not standing still, we are planning for the future, charting new directions, and creating an exciting portfolio of research, academic programs, and outreach . . .”
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W E L C O M E
Alumni, Interns Gather in Chicago. The college hosted a special gathering for Chicago-
area alumni on March 12, 2010 at O’Malley’s West, a Chicago bar and grill owned by Michigan State
University alumni. About 40 people attended the free event, which featured drink specials, half-off
appetizers and a drawing for MSU sports memorabilia. The happy hour party was planned, in part,
as a way for College of Education teaching interns and recent graduates to build connections with
fellow graduates in the region. About 45 teacher candidates completed their fifth-year internship in
Chicago Public Schools during the past two school years, with a larger group expected next fall.
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College Partners to Offer Online M.A. in Health Professions Education
Michigan State University is launch-
ing a new online master’s degree program
to help prepare healthcare professionals
for critical roles as academic leaders and
faculty in their fields.
Th e Education for Health Professions
program will be off ered jointly by MSU’s
top-ranked Colleges of Education and
Osteopathic Medicine, with courses set to
begin this fall.
“Nationwide, colleges of medicine,
nursing and other healthcare professions
are increasing their enrollments to meet
projected shortages of healthcare providers
in the near future,” said Donald Sefcik, se-
nior associate dean of the College of Osteo-
pathic Medicine. “Th ese increases require
that we also expand the supply of highly
qualified educators and administrators.”
Th e new online program is designed for
healthcare educators and practitioners who
want to improve their understanding of
teaching, learning and student assessment,
as well as organizational leadership issues
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Hybrid Ph.D. in Educational Technology Now AvailableThe College of Education is now off ering its doctoral program in Educa-
tional Psychology and Educational Technology substantially online with a new
hybrid option focused on the evolving role of technology in learning.
Th e blended four to five-year program, which combines online course-
work with summer classes on campus, is designed to meet a growing demand
from experienced education professionals who want to earn a Ph.D. while
continuing in their current positions.
Th ese professionals currently serve in k–12 schools, universities or re-
search institutions, and understand how new technologies, including online
learning, continue to transform education.
Few research universities off er online doctoral coursework in education,
said Punya Mishra, associate professor of educational technology. Classes are
slated to begin in June.
“We are meeting a clear national demand from highly qualified profes-
sionals who want to enhance their scholarly abilities but can’t devote four
years to full-time study on campus,” said Mishra. “We are looking for students
who are closely connected to the world of practice, and that will in turn enrich
the research conducted here at MSU.”
With today’s emphasis on data-driven accountability, educational leaders
need rigorous preparation in research and evaluation of learning with tech-
nology. In addition, educational technology—especially the rapidly expanding
world of online learning—calls for educa-
tors who deeply understand how theories
of learning and development can inform
the design of learning environments of the
future.
Th e hybrid version of MSU’s highly-
ranked Ph.D. in Educational Psychology
and Educational Technology will make
extensive use of technology so that much
of the program can be learned from anywhere in the world and give students a
rich, personal experience in online learning.
Students will take one online doctoral course during each fall and spring
semester. Summers will include an intensive two-week session on campus fol-
lowed by five weeks online. Students also will be required to meet university
residency requirements during the fall semester of the third year.
more information
• Visit http://edtechphd.com. Interested prospective
students may also contact coordinator Robin
Dickson at [email protected] or (517) 884-2094.
• Punya Mishra also writes about the program
online at http://punya.educ.msu.edu.
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New Rules Apply: Preparing School Administrators
Did you know? Michigan passed
legislation last winter requiring all
school administrators to obtain cer-
tifi cation, which had been voluntary
until now.
Th e Department of Educa-
tional Administration at MSU has a
couple of options to help educators
qualify for the state certifi cation for
building-level leaders.
First, all students who earn a
master’s degree in k–12 Administra-
tion from MSU (or have any time
since 2006) may be recommended
for the School Administrator cer-
tifi cate. Th ey must have an overall
grade-point average of 3.0 or higher,
complete all program requirements
and submit an application for the
certifi cate (www.educ.msu.edu/pro-
grams/forms/2009/AdministratorAp-
plication.pdf).
MSU off ers the master’s program
in both East Lansing and Birming-
ham, where some courses are now
available mostly online in addition to
a handful of face-to-face sessions.
Secondly, educators who already
have a master’s degree in an associ-
ated area (such as curriculum or
special education) may enroll in the
Plus 18 program. Students complete
18 credits from a selection of core
administrative studies courses.
Professor Susan Printy said the
k–12 educational administration
programs at MSU, which she coordi-
nates, focus on preparing administra-
tors as instructional leaders, which
matches a major shift occurring in
the fi eld.
“We emphasize what it really
means to improve teaching and
learning—to make school improve-
ment authentic and not about com-
pliance,” she said.
|more infowww.education.msu.edu/ead/k12(517) 353-8480 or [email protected]
needed to hold administrative positions.
Coursework will cover curriculum
design, teaching and learning styles,
evaluation and testing, public health
policy and law, budget and finance, and
more.
Th e 30-credit program is designed
to be as convenient as it will be chal-
lenging. Courses will be delivered totally
online by experts in the fields of medi-
cine, law, business and education. Th at
includes John Dirkx and Marylee Davis,
both professors of higher, adult and
lifelong education, and Edward Roeber,
an expert on assessment.
“College of Education faculty
members have a long record of success
tailoring their expertise on teaching,
learning and assessment to continuing
professional education,” said Michael
W. Sedlak, associate dean for academic
aff airs in the College of Education.
“Th is program is a great opportunity for
two nationally prominent professional
schools to bring their strengths to bear
on the education and development of
tomorrow’s healthcare professionals.”
|more infoJon Rohrer, adjunct assistant [email protected]
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graduate advisor
curriculum, teaching & educational policy
Shih-Pei Chang Avner Segall
Weiqing Wang Elizabeth Heilman
curriculum, instruction & teacher education
Rae Young Kim Lynn Paine
educational policy
Wang Jun Kim Peter Youngs
educational psychology & educational technology
Lisa Margherita Sensale Robert Floden
Min-Jung Bae Richard Prawat
higher, adult & lifelong education
Bernard Gwekwerere Reitu Mabokela
k–12 educational administration
Garth E. Cooper Avner Segall
kinesiology
Laura Anne Kietzmann Deborah Feltz
measurement & quantitative methods
Qi Diao Kimberly Maier
Adam Edward Wyse Mark Reckase
rehabilitation counselor education
Wilaiporn Kotbungkair Michael Leahy
special education
Svjetlana Curcic Gary Troia
DOCTORAL DEGREE RECIPIENTS | Fall 2009
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NTSENDOCTORAL DEGREE RECIPIE Fall 200
Kinesiology Professor James Pivarnik and doctoral student
Nicole Forrester traversed the wintry conditions of Canada as two
of the 12,000 other torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame from
Greece to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games.
Pivarnik, director of MSU’s Center for Physical Activity and
Health and president of the American College of Sports Medi-
cine, was selected to carry the torch by Coca-Cola as one of its 20
ambassadors of positive living.
“It is a humbling feeling to have been chosen for this won-
derful event,” he said. “I am grateful to my American College of
Sports Medicine colleagues for choosing me to represent the
organization, as well as the opportunity to represent Michigan
State University.”
Over several months, the torch visited more than 1,000 com-
munities and traveled 27,000 miles.
Pivarnik was part of a team that carried the torch on Jan. 18 and Jan. 19 through Calgary.
Forrester, a Canadian high-jumper who competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, helped
carry the Olympic Flame through Markham, Ontario—just outside her hometown of Au-
rora—on Dec. 17.
Forrester loaned the torch she carried to the Department of Kinesiology, which placed it
on display inside IM Sports Circle for the duration of the 2010 Winter Games.
>> Jason Cody and Nicole Geary
video: james pivarnik
Watch James Pivarnik carry the Olympic torch. Look under
“Podcasts/Videos” on www.education.msu.edu.
Kinesiology Professor,
Student Carry Olympic Torch
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 7
Providing small classes for at least several con-
secutive grades starting in early elementary school
gives students the best chance to succeed in later
grades, according to groundbreaking research from
Spyros Konstantopoulos.
Th e research by Konstantopoulos, associate professor
of measurement and quantitative methods, is the first to ex-
amine the eff ects of class size over a sustained period and for
all levels of students—from low- to high-achievers. Th e study
appeared in the American Journal of Education.
Konstantopoulos also is a member of a committee for the
U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences
that will make official recommendations on class size to the
states. He said the recommendations will mirror his research:
that the best plan of attack is to provide small classes (13 to 17
students) for at least several years starting in kindergarten or
first grade.
“For a long time states thought they could just do it in
kindergarten or first grade for one year and get the benefits,”
Konstantopoulos said. “I don’t believe that. I think you need
at least a few years consecutively where all students, and espe-
R E S E A R C H
Small Classes Have Long-Term Benefit for All Students
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MSU Researchers Study Methods Behind Performance Policies
Policies that hold teachers more accountable—and
reward them—for student achievement have become a hot
topic across the country, especially as President Barack
Obama emphasized his support for merit pay proposals
this spring.
Value-added models (VAMs), the complex statisti-
cal methods used to determine how individual teachers
(or schools or instructional practices) actually aff ect test
scores, have been facing their own controversy as educa-
tion researchers dispute how to draw valid inferences.
A team of scholars from Michigan State University
hopes to resolve that debate, and ensure more policymak-
ers and educators base their assessments on reliable data,
through a new study supported with a $1.2 million grant
from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Edu-
cation Sciences.
Principal investigators Cassie Guarino and Mark Reck-
ase from the College of Education and Jeff Wooldridge of
the Department of Economics—who represent leading
experts in the fields of assessment and econometrics—say
they will evaluate and identify which commonly used
VAMs accurately estimate the eff ects of teachers, schools
and instructional practices.
Th ey plan to apply new tools for checking and improv-
ing the validity of value-added measures using real data
from elementary schools and, ultimately, develop national
guidelines for dissemination. Th e three-year project is
expected to culminate in a two-day conference.
“If fair measures of teacher and school performance
can be derived from student test scores, they can have a
potentially transformative eff ect on the teaching profes-
sion by allowing policymakers to reward good teach-
ers and provide professional development to those who
need it most,” Guarino said.
cially low-achievers, receive the treatment, and then you see
the benefits later.”
His research used data from the massive Project Star
study in Tennessee that analyzed the eff ects of class size on
more than 11,000 students in elementary and middle school.
Konstantopoulos found that students who had been in small
classes from kindergarten through third grade had substan-
tially higher test scores in grades four through eight than
students who had been in larger classes early on.
Students from all achievement levels benefited from small
classes, the research found. But low-achievers benefited the
most, which narrowed the achievement gap with high-achiev-
ers in science, reading and math, Konstantopoulos said.
Although the study didn’t evaluate classroom practices,
Konstantopoulos said the reason for the narrowing gap likely
is due to low-achieving students receiving more attention
from teachers.
“Th is is especially important in poorer schools because
teacher eff ectiveness matters more in schools with higher
proportions of disadvantaged and low-performing students,”
he said.
>> A N D Y H E N I O N
Guarino Reckase Wooldridge
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The College of Education will
prepare more educators needed to
teach science, technology, engineering
and mathematics in Michigan’s urban
schools as part of a new statewide fel-
lowship program announced in January.
MSU is one of six universities se-
lected to participate in the W. K. Kellogg
Foundation’s Woodrow Wilson Michi-
gan Teaching Fellowship. Th e Fellowship
was created after the Kellogg Founda-
tion awarded a $16.7 million grant to the
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship
Foundation.
Th e program provides promising
future teachers—who can be recent
college graduates or career-changing en-
gineers and scientists—with an intensive
master’s degree program in education
and places them in hard-to-staff middle
and high schools for a minimum of
three years. Statewide, the Fellowship
will prepare 240 teachers over two years,
beginning in 2011.
President Barack Obama named the
program among the best new eff orts to
improve math and science achievement
during an “Educate to Innovate” Cam-
paign event at the White House on Jan.
6. Th e following day, Michigan Gov. Jen-
nifer Granholm announced the partici-
pating universities: MSU, University of
Michigan, Eastern Michigan University,
Western Michigan University, Grand
Valley State University and Wayne State
University.
“MSU is committed to helping
address critical shortages in the work
force as Michigan faces the demands
of today’s global economy. Our College
of Education has already made the
enhancement of eff ective math and
science teachers a top priority,” said
President Lou Anna K. Simon. “Th e
Woodrow Wilson fellowship will allow
the teacher education program to build
on its strengths and produce more
teachers able to provide high-quality
stem instruction in our state’s urban
schools.”
Woodrow Wilson Fellows that come
to MSU will attend summer courses and
complete a full-year teaching internship
in Detroit or Grand Rapids modeled
after the university’s highly-regarded
initial certification program for under-
another new teaching fellowship
Michigan State University also is one of nearly 30 institutions nationwide selected to participate in the Woodrow
Wilson–Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowship for Aspiring Teachers of Color beginning with the 2011–12 academic
year. The program is intended to help recruit, support and retain individuals of color as k–12 public school teachers
in the United States.
Once selected by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, fellows may choose to complete the
fellowship at any of the approved universities, which also include Stanford, UCLA and University of Washington.
They receive support for a master’s degree, experience teaching in a high-needs school and guidance to obtain a
teaching certificate, in exchange for committing to teach for at least three years in an urban or rural school.
Visit www.woodrow.org/wwrbf.
Fellowship Prepares
More STEM Teachers
for Urban Schools
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CAP Program Aims to Boost Interest in Technical Careers
College of Education scholar Barbara Schneider is using a
$1 million federal grant to create a program designed to better
prepare high-schoolers for technical careers by spurring interest
in science, technology, engineering and math courses, or stem.
It’s not unusual today to find students aspiring to become
forensic scientists and other high-profile professionals based
on what they learn from TV shows and movies, said Schneider,
MSU’s John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in Education.
Th e challenge, Schneider said, is redirecting their interest to realistic ca-
reers such as microbiology where they learn what microbiologists do and what
types of education and extracurricular experiences are needed to pursue such
an occupation.
With the National Science Foundation grant, Schneider and her team are
developing a school-wide model to improve students’ understanding of the
educational requirements for a given career path and help them develop the
knowledge, attitudes and behaviors to achieve that objective. While other
university-run programs have focused on increasing college-attendance rates of
students from underrepresented groups, the College Ambition Program, or CAP,
is likely the first to encompass all students in a school.
Schneider and colleagues have been laying the groundwork to launch CAP at
a rural school and an urban school in mid-Michigan starting this fall.
“Th e whole-school design allows for the inclusion of students who may not
have identified with a career in stem due to lack of information and exposure,”
she said. “Research shows that low-income and underrepresented groups tend
to be unfamiliar with stem job opportunities and the educational requirements
needed to attain that goal.”
Th e National Science Board recently identified a key challenge facing the de-
velopment of a qualified stem work force as a lack of consensus among schools,
parents, students and the community regarding the importance of stem.
Both participating schools are classified as economically disadvantaged and
have lower-than-expected rates of students going to college.
Th e three-year program will involve:
• Two types of mentors for the high school students: undergraduate students
at MSU (including education and stem majors) and professionals working in
stem fields. Schneider said mentoring can be invaluable for disadvantaged
youth who have limited exposure to the college-application process, life expe-
riences at college and career opportunities.
• Course counseling and advising. Ninth-graders will work with MSU program
teams to design a four-year high school plan that is consistent with college
entrance requirements and focuses heavily on math and science.
• Help in preparing for college entrance exams, including receiving practice
test questions and vocabulary enrichment materials.
• Assistance with the college admission process, from financial planning to
pursuing scholarships.
• Resources for teachers, principals and guidance counselors for their role in
better preparing students for success in the stem fields.
>> Andy Henion
| more infoClay Braggs, research program director: [email protected]
graduate teacher candidates.
Th e new 15-month Fellowship, which
culminates in both a master’s degree
and teaching certificate, will focus
on preparing individuals for careers
in urban settings where stem teach-
ers are in especially high demand. Th e
teacher education faculty at MSU has
experience developing successful urban
education programs in partnership
with Detroit Public Schools, as well as a
history of creating courses for teach-
ers in collaboration with the College of
Natural Science.
Carole Ames, dean of the College of
Education, said MSU hopes to enroll 20
fellows beginning in summer 2011. Fel-
lows receive a $30,000 stipend.
“Th is is a tremendous opportunity
for the state of Michigan,” Ames said.
“Th e Kellogg Foundation–Woodrow
Wilson Michigan Teaching Fellowship
will attract prospective teachers of math-
ematics and science, enable high-quality
preparation to certify these teacher
candidates and fill a tremendous need in
hard-to-staff
schools. Th e
beneficiaries
will be the
students in
Michigan
who will have
highly qualified teachers in the critical
areas of mathematics and science.”
|more infoGail Richmond, project [email protected] or (517) 432-4854
| on the webwww.woodrow.org/michigan
>> N I C O L E G E A R Y
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 11
O U T R E A C H
THAT’S BECAUSE THE CURRICULUM in the United States attempts to cover too many
topics without tying them together.
Kids jump from a unit on weather to one on
simple machines. Th ey learn ambitious collections
of facts in separate required silos; biology, chemis-
try, physics.
But you don’t need to recite Newton’s Laws to
be an excellent truck driver or baseball player. And
the life cycle of stars won’t help us understand how
our everyday actions aff ect ecosystems.
“Students are not getting the big ideas they need
to be scientifically literate citizens,” said Amelia
Wenk Gotwals, an assistant professor of teacher
education.
She and other faculty members in the MSU
College of Education are working to improve
science education by
zooming in on the
scientific concepts
all students
>> N I C O L E G E A R Y
really need to know, and determining how to grow
understanding from one year to the next.
Led by veteran ground-breaker Charles “Andy”
W. Anderson, their research on learning progres-
sions—a new way to refine curriculum goals—has
begun to shape the national dialogue during a criti-
cal turning point for science education. .
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Th e National Research Council cre-
ated a committee early this year that will
develop a conceptual framework for new
k–12 science standards.
Leaders agree the curriculum must
change. Th e work of real scientists has
become much more interdisciplinary in
the last 20 years and yet many teachers
still don’t have resources to eff ectively
make connections across science con-
tent areas.
While scholars debate how to break
down the status quo, Anderson takes a
strong stand as an advocate for recon-
ceptualizing science standards around
environmental literacy.
For more than 10 years, he has been
studying how children learn about things
like air, soil and trees and their resulting
confusion about concepts that literally
explain how the world works, from mol-
ecules to the laws of matter and energy.
He helps run a large-scale eff ort
to improve science teaching in Michi-
gan’s rural school districts (and across
the country) by engaging teachers in
environmental science and education
research. In the fall of 2008, he became
co-principal investigator of a $12.5
million grant from the National Sci-
ence Foundation to create a culturally
relevant framework (or learning pro-
gression) where environmental literacy
drives students’ learning of core science
and mathematics concepts.
And that was only the latest in a se-
ries of related research grants for Ander-
son, a sort of conscientious rebel in his
field, serious about securing our planet’s
future by creating informed citizens in
today’s classrooms.
President Barack Obama recently
included support for environmental
literacy in a new Department of Educa-
tion program, identifying it among
“the subjects important to a complete
curriculum” with history, arts, financial
literacy and foreign language.
Students from Lawton High School conduct a stream
study along the Paw Paw River in Van Buren County,
Mich. Lawton science teachers incorporate environ-
mental literacy into their lessons based on guidance
from Andy Anderson and the K–12 Partnership at MSU’s
Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Mich.
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Anderson, who was
recently invited to
serve on the national
Climate Change Edu-
cation Roundtable.
Children espe-
cially tend to adopt a “force-dynamic”
view of the world in which plants and
animals take actions (like growing) with
access to the right enablers (such as soil,
rain and sunlight).
“Th ey must think of a tree as not just
an actor, but as a system that’s part of a
larger global system. It’s moving carbon
from the atmosphere into biomass, one
of millions and millions of trees doing
the same thing,” Anderson said.
“We need to understand the balance
of these processes. In order to under-
stand them, you really have to go down
to the atomic molecular level.”
With a vibrant team of postdoctoral
researchers and graduate students,
Anderson’s line of research on envi-
ronmental literacy now covers three
strands important across school science
curricula: carbon cycling, water and
biodiversity.
His goal has been to determine
“Traditional science education can
no longer regard environmental science
as peripheral,” Anderson said. “We
have been unable to mount the political
will to take collective action on envi-
ronmental issues. Th e problem is that
many people simply don’t understand
the consequences of their actions on a
scientific level.”
Getting to the core . . . for life on earth
Anderson, a professor in the College of
Education since 1979, wasn’t always so
focused on integrating environmental
literacy into contemporary curriculum.
Among the first researchers to study
conceptual change theory, his thinking
about eff ective science teaching—and
preparing eff ective teachers—had
already been on the cutting edge for
more than 20 years when, in 2000, the
American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science (aaas) asked him to
help organize a conference.
Th e topic: What would it take to
develop a complete package of research-
based curriculum materials for k–12
science? His conclusion: Impossible.
“Th ere are too many benchmarks
that we are supposed to cover,” said
Anderson, who decided there must be
a better, coherent way to condense the
objectives. “I asked the question: What
is it everyone needs to understand or our
nation suff ers?
“And that is what led me to environ-
mental science.”
Nearly everyone, at least since the
1990s, will say they value protecting the
environment. But they often know very
little about how to do that.
For example, when you ask kids how
to improve water quality in their town,
the most common answer is ‘don’t litter.’
Most adults believe planting trees is good
for the environment because it reduces
pollution, which is true but very vague.
“You need a scientific understand-
ing of what the trees do with carbon
dioxide before you can really understand
when and how planting trees might help
with an issue like climate change,” said
.
“Unless we understand how the world works, we’re not going to make rational decisions to protect it.”
—Sue Zygadlo, fourth-grade teacher at Lawton Elementary School
the sequences of content and teaching
strategies that lead students to progres-
sively more sophisticated understand-
ings of certain core ideas—in this case,
the knowledge young people need to be
responsible stewards of our planet from
upper elementary school through college.
Penn State University professor
Deborah Smith, a member of the NRC
committee developing the new science
standards framework, said Anderson’s
learning progression work is among
the most thoroughly developed and has
become a model for science education
scholars across the country.
“One of the
things that’s most
outstanding about
Andy is that he
thinks very deeply
about not only the
on the web
n Science Education at Michigan State University:
https://www.msu.edu/~sciencedn Board on Science Education (National Research
Council): http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/.
Science teacher Erik Crooks and two of his students from Harper Creek Middle School (in Battle Creek, Mich.)
make biodiesel during a workshop at the Kellogg Biological Station.
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 15
S C I E N C E E D U C A T I O N
research implications but also the socio-
cultural implications of his work,” said
Smith, who was on the MSU College of
Education faculty in the late 1990s. “He’s
so thoughtful, he just goes to the core—
the absolutely essential things that we
need to help children understand.”
| environmental literacy projecthttp://edr1.educ.msu.edu/EnvironmentalLit
Making change in classrooms, homes . . . and more
Th e MSU Kellogg Biological Station
(KBS) in Hickory Corners, Mich. is like
base camp for dozens of teachers willing
to challenge their students—and them-
selves—with inquiry-based teaching
strategies tied to ecological literacy.
Th rough the k–12 Partnership,
they come to the field research and
education facility for regular work-
shops and return to 11 south-
western Michigan
school districts where they receive
continuing support from MSU graduate
students, or “building-level scientists.”
Many of the professional develop-
ment activities are based on research
findings from Anderson, who co-directs
the program with MSU science profes-
sors Tom Getty (Department of Zool-
ogy) and Phil Robertson (Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences). In turn, he
relies on participating schools to pilot
and assess teaching materials.
Th e k–12 Partnership has been sup-
ported by a series of NSF grants since
1999.
“I think environmental science is the
perfect laboratory for students
to see things holistically,”
said Jonathan Schramm,
a postdoctoral research
associate who works with
Anderson and serves as a
KBS building-level scien-
tist. “Teachers feel it greatly increases
their ability to talk to their students
about science in an inquiring way.”
Elementary teacher Sue Zygadlo
said Lawton Community Schools’ par-
ticipation in the k–12 Partnership, and
the resulting emphasis on environmental
literacy across the science curriculum,
has led to district-wide changes for the
small school system. Teachers formed a
lead k–12 science team to share planning,
and science meap scores have steadily
increased in both fifth and eighth grade,
consistently beating the state average.
Classrooms moved outside, where
students work among streams, rain
gardens and nature trails.
“It’s opened up a whole world to our
students, who really consider themselves
scientists,” Zygadlo said. “Andy gives us
the framework, helping us every step of
the way and pushing us to new limits.”
Back at KBS recently, Anderson and
Schramm took notes as Zygadlo’s col-
league Marcia Angle, a science teacher
at Lawton Middle School, explained
how students responded to lesson plans
about matter and energy created by
Anderson and his team.
As they and other teachers talked
about how the materials aff ect children’s
overall understandings, Angle stopped
to mention that one of her students had
proudly talked his mom into air drying
the family’s laundry to reduce energy
consumption.
“He’s transferring his learning
because of these lessons,” she said, tap-
ping her binder and smiling. “He made a
change in his home, Andy.”
And that is what Anderson, who
drives a hybrid car and grows much of
his own food, ultimately hopes science
education can do—inform and encour-
age behaviors that matter.
Young people must be equipped to
recognize how their actions as citizens—
workers, consumers, voters—aff ect the
environmental systems on which we and
our descendents depend.
“Th e kids in middle and high school
now are going to be making environ-
mental decisions 20 and 30 years from
now, and we don’t know exactly what
the issues will be then,” he said. “We
need to give them a set of tools for rea-
soning about the issues they are going to
encounter.”
| k–12 partnershipwww.kbs.msu.edu/education/k-12-partnership
Leading the approach: Learning progressions
Th e MSU science education faculty
studies how students develop critical
kinds of scientific knowledge and skills
over time.
Michelle Williams has been tracing
how children grasp ideas about heredity,
Christina Schwarz is exploring how stu-
dents learn to use scientific models and
Amelia Wenk Gotwals helped create a
successful framework for teaching urban
TOM
STA
NU
LIS
n e w e d u c a t o r16
home to the leading journal
Angela Calabrese Barton became co-editor of the Journal of Research in Science
Teaching (JRST) on Jan. 1, making MSU home to the premier journal in the field
of science education for five years.
Joseph Krajcik of the University of Michigan serves as her fellow co-editor
while other MSU faculty members are involved as associate editors (Andy
Anderson and Christina Schwarz) and as editorial board members (Gail
Richmond and Amelia Wenk Gotwals).
Published monthly, JRST is the official journal of the National Association for
Research in Science Teaching (NARST). Anderson previously served as co-editor
with MSU Professor Emeritus James Gallagher.
Visit www.narst.org/publications/jrst.cfm for more information.
be published later this year.
Learning progressions represent an
attempt to bridge major gaps between
cognitive science research on how
people learn and the current methods
for teaching and assessing science.
By nature, they require teachers to
be pickier about what and how they
teach. And, although there is still much
research to be done, some science edu-
cation scholars predict learning progres-
sions will ultimately help the field decide
what core ideas all American students
need to be successful citizens.
Leaders who oversee the National
Assessment of Educational Progress
(naep) have considered incorporating
items based on learning progression
frameworks (Alonzo and Anderson
served on a national group exploring the
possibility), and the new NRC commit-
tee is paying attention.
“Our learning progression and oth-
ers are going to be used as the founda-
tion for the new national standards, and
to exemplars of what could happen,”
Schwarz said.
She is co-principal investigator,
with colleagues from five other institu-
tions, of the $3 million MoDeLS project
(Model Designs for Learning Science).
Th e researchers are developing a learn-
ing progression for the core practice of
modeling—creating simplified, often
visual representations as a way of ex-
plaining scientific ideas.
Th ey have shown how fifth and sixth
graders learn to construct increasingly
accurate models for processes like con-
densation and evaporation that involve
invisible components and use them to
explain other related phenomena.
| biokids / deep thinkwww.biokids.umich.edu
| leaps conferencewww.education.uiowa.edu/projects/leaps
| modelswww.models.northwestern.edu/models
youth about biodiversity.
Based on cognitive and sociocul-
tural ideas about how students learn
best, Gotwals’ project with colleagues
at University of Michigan—called Deep
Th ink—has helped dozens of Detroit
Public Schools teachers grow students’
skill in complex scientific reasoning
from fourth- through sixth-grade.
Curriculum units, which often take
place outside school doors, build on
each other and cover concepts such
as animal classifications, habitats and
food chains related to one big idea: how
humans impact the health of plants and
animals in their community.
“Because it’s based on local experi-
ence, students have taken a big interest
in learning about the ecology of their
school yard, their city and the nearby
river ecosystem,” said Gotwals, noting
students also improved their ability to
explain and interpret scientific data ac-
cording to pre- and post-tests.
Like smaller slices of Anderson’s
k–12 eff orts in environmental science,
research projects such as Deep Th ink
are collectively illustrating how design-
ing science curricula around fewer select
objectives—the learning progression ap-
proach—has potential to improve edu-
cational outcomes across the country.
And MSU is at the forefront. Beyond
their individual research, Gotwals and
fellow College of Education faculty
member Alicia Alonzo organized the
first national conference on science
learning progressions in June 2009
using a grant from the National Science
Foundation.
Th e Learning Progressions in
Science (LeaPS) Conference brought
together about 100 key researchers in an
eff ort to discuss common challenges and
open new lines of communication. A
resulting book co-edited by Alonzo and
Gotwals, including chapters written by
Schwarz and Anderson, is expected to
Andy Anderson works closely with teachers from 11 southwestern Michigan school districts, providing teaching
materials about environmental science literacy and collecting data from their classroom experiences along the way.
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 17
S C I E N C E E D U C A T I O N
18
He didn’t stop thinking about the day-
to-day challenges facing individuals with
physical or emotional impairments when he
was promoted to executive vice president of
a massive rehabilitation center or when he
left practice to pursue his Ph.D.
He wasn’t caught up in academic accolades when Michigan State University’s
rehabilitation counseling degree programs were first ranked No. 1 in the nation, or
even when he won his fifth major research award from the American Rehabilitation
Counseling Association.
Leahy—who has built a legacy of excellence in the College of Education and liter-
n Michael Leahy became a counselor
with a central purpose: to help people
with disabilities achieve their goals.
Th irty-five years later, that commit-
ment has never wavered.
>> N I C O L E G E A R Y
MICHAEL LEAHY’S LEADERSHIP RAISES QUALITY OF RESEARCH, TRAINING IN REHABILITATION COUNSELING
PHO
TO B
Y G
. L. K
OH
UTH
/ U
NIV
ERSI
TY R
ELAT
ION
S
n e w e d u c a t o r
what is a rehabilitation counselor?
The rehabilitation counselor’s job is to guide the individual—whether their
disability is blindness, a brain injury or a learning barrier—through all issues
related to achieving a better quality of life, such as educational needs,
accommodations in their home or vehicle and possibilities for employment.
They must deal with the “whole person.”
ally defined what it takes to be an eff ec-
tive counselor in his field—is a respected
leader driven by unpretentious passion.
“He has a sincere and deep commit-
ment to the profession and to improv-
ing the lives of people with disabilities,”
said James Herbert, professor in charge
of the Rehabilitation and Human Ser-
vices Program at Penn State University.
“He has been one of the few academ-
ics that have not only made significant
contributions in research but also in
service.”
Along with holding leadership roles
in nearly every rehabilitation counsel-
ing organization at some point in his
career, Leahy and his team continue to
evaluate critical aspects of rehabilita-
tion services provided by the state of
Michigan. Th is 10-year partnership with
a state agency—found nowhere else in
the country—has led to significant im-
provements for citizens with disabilities
seeking help with employment.
And now Professor Leahy is prepar-
ing for an even bigger assignment:
developing a new national occupational
information system for the Social Secu-
rity Administration. Th e system will de-
termine eligibility benefits for nearly 11
million disabled adults and, most likely,
be used as a reference by all rehabilita-
tion counselors across the country.
State and federal workers compensa-
tion programs, and private and public
professionals such as lawyers, vocational
rehabilitation specialists and physical
and occupational therapists also are
expected to use the system.
Leahy will serve as the Washington-
based project’s senior research con-
sultant while remaining at MSU with
colleagues John Kosciulek, Virginia
Th ielsen and Nancy Crewe to prepare
future professionals, and rehabilitation
counseling educators, for tomorrow’s
jobs in the high-demand field.
“Our ultimate goal is to promote a
more normalized view of disability, so
that people think about it as a naturally
occurring instance in a lifetime,” Leahy
said. “We need to embrace it as another
aspect of diversity, and make sure
individuals with disabilities have every
opportunity to pursue a successful life.”
Building a better counselor
Th e role of a rehabilitation counselor
and what he or she needs to be highly
qualified—a unique and changing col-
lection of knowledge and competen-
cies—has been the focus of Leahy’s
research.
And, over time, his body of empiri-
cally validated findings has become a
driving influence on curriculum and
training standards accepted across
the field. In fact, Leahy’s studies have
directly informed accreditation re-
quirements for academic programs in
rehabilitation counseling (through the
Council on Rehabilitation Education, or
core) as well as the test specifications
used to certify rehabilitation counselors
(through the Commission on Reha-
bilitation Counselor Certification, or
crcc).
Leahy, who does not have a disability
himself, was inspired to pursue the pro-
fession by way of a college job in a group
home for people with severe intellectual
disabilities. He knew early in life that he
wanted to be in a “helping role” and here
was a population overcoming barriers
to basic civil rights. Individuals with
disabilities have the lowest employment
rate of any group in America.
It was while working at an India-
napolis rehabilitation center in the 1980s
when Leahy first recognized a need for
more extensive training; that, to truly
help their clients, rehabilitation counsel-
ors must understand the psychological
and social impacts of various disabilities
as well as the medical dimensions. Th ey
must also possess strong counseling
skills, be able to manage a large caseload
and much more.
As emphasis on professionaliza-
tion grew, Leahy saw a long line of
unanswered research questions and an
opportunity to make a diff erence on a
larger scale.
He launched his academic career
while earning a Ph.D. at the University
of Wisconsin–Madison and arrived at
MSU in 1986. His latest national study,
on knowledge domains required for
eff ective rehabilitation counseling prac-
tice, wrapped up in 2009.
A top-notch training ground
Brian Phillips remembers being very
nervous when he traveled from Salt Lake
City to explore MSU’s doctoral program
in rehabilitation counseling, nervous to
meet someone whose work he had been
reading since his introductory courses.
“When I came out, I was 99 percent
sure I wouldn’t come this far from
home,” Phillips said. “But after my in-
terview with Dr. Leahy, I was 99 percent
sure I would come if they would take
me. He made me feel confident that I
could succeed in the program.”
Phillips was equally impressed by
the university’s renowned reputation
and the warm welcome he received.
As a third-year Ph.D. student, he is
Elevating Ability
.
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 19
R E H A B I L I TAT I O N C O U N S E L I N G
now among more than 1,500 doctoral
candidates and master’s students who
have studied rehabilitation counseling at
MSU from all over the world.
Th e discipline has a rich history at
MSU going back to the mid-1950s, but
the original Ph.D. program had dis-
solved by the time Leahy joined the
faculty. He led an eff ort to redesign the
doctoral track and, in the mid-90s, to
launch the Office of Rehabilitation and
Disability Studies.
“We thought it would bring all
our programs together and give us a
stronger identity,” said Leahy, who still
oversees the office. “It’s been eff ective.”
MSU’s graduate programs in reha-
bilitation counseling have been ranked
No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report since
2003 among approximately 100 institu-
tions nationwide. (Th e top ranking is
currently shared with University of
Wisconsin–Madison.)
Attracted by both faculty stature and
broad opportunities, doctoral students
form a close-knit community that keeps
a weekly lunch meeting and, under Lea-
hy’s direction, collaborates on research
each year with peers at Penn State and
Iowa, a group they call “the big three.”
Leahy and his colleagues have cre-
ated a culture that values the individual
needs of students and expects all of
them to achieve the highest profes-
sional standards. Th is includes up to 40
master’s degree students who balance
coursework with at least 750 hours of
intensive practice counseling clients
with disabilities in the field.
Besides the master’s and Ph.D.
programs, the Office of Rehabilitation
and Disability Studies also encompasses
ongoing research and development
projects such as reach (Rehabilita-
tion Education and CHange)—which
provides online professional develop-
ment for rehabilitation counselors in
the field—and undergraduate courses
related to disability.
Th e classes provide doctoral
students, who are mostly preparing
for academic positions, with valuable
opportunities to practice teaching. Th ey
also introduce various topics from a dis-
ability perspective for up to 1,000 MSU
undergraduates each year.
Leahy said that no other institution
off ers the same comprehensive mix of
educational programs in rehabilitation
counseling. And that is critical in a spe-
cialized field always struggling to recruit
enough talent.
“Everyone we train is employed be-
fore they leave,” he said. “Th e demand is
extraordinary and it will continue to be.”
The model partnership
Project Excellence is perhaps the great-
est testament to Leahy’s concern for
connecting research with service, and
for exposing doctoral students to top-
quality training.
MSU has a long-standing relation-
ship with Michigan Rehabilitation
Services (MRS), which employs reha-
bilitation counselors who provide job
assistance to citizens with disabilities all
over the state. Building on their history,
Leahy and leaders of the state agency
agreed in 2001 to explore opportunities
in program evaluation.
After winning the competitive bid,
MSU faculty and graduate students
began receiving regular, ongoing op-
portunities to analyze Michigan trends,
practices and initiatives related to reha-
bilitation counseling. Th e state, in turn,
started expanding its capacity to use
data to improve programs serving more
than 40,000 people each year.
Nine years later, Project Excel-
lence has generated nearly $5 million
for research assistantships at MSU and
influenced lasting changes at MRS af-
fecting everything from staff training to
customer satisfaction levels.
“I think we do a better job of as-
suring customers get the services they
need, that customers are treated equita-
bly and that we maximize the dollars be-
cause we provide services that are more
eff ective,” said Lori Shader-Patterson,
who directs the evaluation and program
support division of MRS.
“We are better, not just with
customers but with the way we are
organized and the way we are able to
collaborate and share information.”
Nineteen doctoral students have
interacted with agency staff and worked
alongside faculty, for three to four years
at a time, on literature reviews, instru-
ment construction, data analysis, writing
reports and more—all with current and
real implications for people in Michigan.
“It’s really a complete experience as
Anna Soderman, who is completing her internship as a master’s student in rehabilitation counseling at MSU,
talks with client Randall Lauck about his new job working in a warehouse for Peckham, Inc.
n e w e d u c a t o r20
a researcher,” said Virginia Th ielsen, co-
principal investigator with Leahy.
“It gives them the kind of confidence
in doing applied research that we could
never simulate through a project or two,”
Leahy said. “Employers at other univer-
sities are finding it very attractive.”
Funding for Project Excellence will
continue through at least 2011, pending
contract extensions or renewals with
Michigan’s Department of Energy, Labor
and Economic Growth.
To Ireland and beyond
Despite juggling Project Excellence,
teaching and a large number of doctoral
advisees, Leahy always seems to be
thinking about what’s next.
Particularly about ways to generate
understanding—and positive change—
for individuals with disabilities through-
out society.
In 2007, he developed a ground-
breaking study abroad program after
MSU leaders turned to him with con-
cerns that few students with disabilities
participate in international learning
experiences. More than 40 students with
and without disabilities have now taken
the trip to Ireland, with a fourth group
led by Leahy departing this summer.
Th e relationships he established
with colleagues in Ireland, where dis-
ability laws are among the world’s most
progressive, are creating additional op-
portunities to elevate MSU’s status as an
advocate for persons with disabilities on
an international scale.
Leahy is the co-chair of an interna-
tional research conference in Dublin
this October that will bring together
presidents of top technology companies,
urging them to invest in products and
services that improve the daily lives of
individuals with intellectual disabilities
such as mental retardation and severe
autism.
Th e event, which includes plans to
have Irish president Mary McAleese and
Apple CEO Steve Jobs as key speakers,
also will launch a new research insti-
tute on intellectual disabilities based
in Dublin at the Daughters of Charity.
Trinity College of Dublin and MSU will
be partners in the initiative.
“Th is is an opportunity to further
our international eff orts in collaboration
with institutions of higher learning and
practice settings,” said Leahy, who also
begins consulting with Social Security
Administration officials on research
for the new occupational information
system this summer.
Both ventures, as always, carry
potential to create unique real-world
research experiences for MSU students.
Th ey also prove Leahy’s determi-
nation to improve the rehabilitation
counseling profession—no matter how
long-lasting—is as strong as ever.
“He manages to balance an aware-
ness of the history and a very keen vision
for what needs to change in the future,”
Phillips said. “Th at combination, for a
doctoral student, is all you can hope for.”
| office of rehabilitation & disability studieswww.educ.msu.edu/cepse/rehab
the michael leahy file
n experience Nearly 35 years in rehabilitation as a counselor, administrator,
researcher and educator, including 24 years at MSU.n current titles Professor of rehabilitation counseling; Director, Office of
Rehabilitation and Disability Studies at MSU; Director, doctoral program in
Rehabilitation Counselor Education; Licensed Professional Counselor; Certified
Rehabilitation Counselorn education Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison (rehabilitation
counseling psychology), 1986; M.S., Southern Illinois University–Carbondale
(rehabilitation administration and services), 1982; B.S., University of
Wisconsin-Stout (vocational rehabilitation), 1976n major (selected) awards Rehabilitation Services Administration
Commissioners Award, U.S. Department of Education (2009); MSU
Distinguished Faculty Award (2004); American Rehabilitation Counseling
Association (ARCA) Research Award (1987, 1990, 1993, 2007); James E.
Garret Distinguished Career in Rehabilitation Research Award, ARCA (2004);
Distinguished Career Award, Alliance for Rehabilitation Counseling (2001);
Lifetime Rehabilitation Achievement Award, Commission on Rehabilitation
Counselor Certification (1997)n grants Principal investigator on nearly 30 large-scale research, training and
service delivery grant projectsn publications More than 130 refereed journal articles, books, book
chapters and research monographsn professional leadership Past-President, National Council on
Rehabilitation Education, Past Chair, Alliance for Rehabilitation Counseling and
Past-President, American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA).
Co-principal investigators Michael Leahy and Virginia Thielsen (right) meet with doctoral students who serve as research assistants for Project Excellence, a unique partnership
between MSU and the state of Michigan for researching and evaluating rehabilitation services.
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 21
R E H A B I L I TAT I O N C O U N S E L I N G
Closing the achievement gap has
become one of the more prominent edu-
cation reform and research issues since
the inception of No Child Left Behind
(nclb) in 2001. Th e “achievement gap”
in education refers to the disparity in
academic performance between demo-
graphic subgroups of students. It is most
often used to describe the troubling
performance gaps between African-
American or Hispanic students, at the
lower end of the performance scale,
and their non-Hispanic white peers, as
well as the similar academic disparity
between students from low-income and
well-off families. Th e achievement gap
shows up in grades, standardized-test
scores, course selection, drop-out rates
and college completion rates. It has be-
come a focal point of education reform
eff orts.
Th e National Assessment of Edu-
cational Progress (naep) is the only
nationally representative assessment
of what American students know and
can do in various subject areas. nclb
requires all U.S. states and jurisdictions
to participate in naep assessments in
reading and mathematics at grades 4
and 8 on a biennial basis. Th e purpose
of naep has always been to monitor
change over time. Under nclb, naep
has a new role—to act as a serious tool
in evaluating results of state assessments
and to provide a common base for gaug-
ing the progress of the nation and the
states in the content areas of mathemat-
ics, reading, writing and science.
naep results during the pre-nclb
(1990–2001) and post-nclb (2002–
2009) periods can be analyzed among
diff erent racial and socio-economic
groups of fourth and eighth graders
from across the nation to evaluate the
impact of nclb in closing the achieve-
ment gap up to 2009. Figures 1 (oppo-
site) and 2 (following page) show trends
in eighth grade mathematics achieve-
ment for selected racial/ethnic groups
and by economic status as measured
by eligibility for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture National School Lunch Pro-
gram for economically disadvantaged
students. Th e objective of this article is
to answer the most controversial ques-
tion in education today: Has nclb been
eff ective in closing the achievement gap
in America’s public schools?
Yong Zhao and NCLB
In preparing for this
article, I read Catch-
ing Up or Leading
the Way: American
Education in the Age
of Globalization by
Michigan State Uni-
versity Distinguished
Professor Yong Zhao.
Published in
September 2009 by ascd, this thought-
provoking and challenging book is
valuable to the discourse in American
education. Zhao provides a refreshingly
international perspective and “pulls
no punches” in his criticism of recent
educational reform movements in the
United States. I was particularly inter-
ested in his views about nclb’s impact
on testing and accountability in public
schools, and whether the law is meeting
its goal of closing the achievement gap.
Zhao contends that nclb has failed
to improve education and that the
results have been to turn public schools
into teaching factories where children
are trained to take standardized tests
that do not measure the types of skills
necessary in the 21st century and our
changing global society. Zhao is op-
posed to the use of standardized testing
results to reward or punish teachers
and schools. He argues that continuing
with the present policies under nclb
will harm the American public school
system and undermine the quality of
education in the U.S.
Zhao states: “In a way, the reforms
that aim to save America are actu-
ally putting America in danger. nclb
is sending American education into
deeper crisis because it is likely to lead
[to] increasing distrust of educators,
disregard of students’ individual inter-
ests, destruction of local autonomy and
capacity for innovation, and disrespect
for human values.”
Zhao is very much opposed to
national or state academic standards,
which he contends will do more harm
than good. In a section titled “No Child
Left Behind: Th e Arrival of the Dictator
in Education,” Zhao states, “Even with-
out national tests, there is little doubt
that education in the United States has
become authoritarian. Th rough nclb,
the federal government has been telling
Americans that reading and math are
the most valued subject areas and what
schools should teach. Th rough various
high school exit exams and state core
curriculum programs, the state govern-
ments have decided that math, science,
English, and possibly social studies are
of the most worth if Americans are to
succeed in the global economy.”
Professor Zhao contends that uni-
form tests produce monolithic thinking,
and that in our modern global economy
the passion that results when people
are encouraged to develop along diverse
paths is far more valuable than the
large-scale mediocrity that results from
national education standards and a test-
centered school culture. Zhao advocates
a model that emphasizes educational re-
form aimed at reducing subject content
Closing the Achievement Gap: Has
sharif shakrani
senior scholar,
education policy center
n e w e d u c a t o r22
.
NCLB Been Effective?
emphasis and increasing skills related to
critical thinking, problem solving and
innovation.
Shakrani on NCLB: Response to Zhao
I am not certain we can do one at the ex-
pense of the other. Skill-centered learn-
ing at the expense of knowledge-based
education has not worked in the past
and will not work, now or in the future.
From the “life adjustment movement” of
the 1950s to “outcome-based education”
in the 1980s, one “innovation” after an-
other devalued academic subject matter
while emphasizing problem solving and
inquiry-based skills related to everyday
life to meet the practical interests of
young people. None of these initiatives
survived for any length of time; however,
they inserted into American education a
deeply ingrained suspicion of academic
studies and subject matter.
Many educators have become
obsessed over “critical-thinking skills,”
“individualized-learning styles” and so
on. But they have paid precious little
attention to the disciplinary knowledge
that young people need to know in order
to progress eff ectively in their academic
studies. We cannot ignore what matters
most; we cannot think critically without
first having a substantial amount of
knowledge to think about. Th inking
critically and solving problems involves
comparing and contrasting and synthe-
sizing what we have learned, and a great
deal of subject matter content knowl-
edge is necessary before we can begin to
reflect on meaning and think critically
about alternative solutions. Proponents
of “21st century skills” who emphasize
critical thinking, problem solving and
creativity might wish it was otherwise,
but we do not restart the world with
each new century. We stand on the
shoulders of those who have gone before
us. What matters most is our cognitive
capacity to make generalizations, to
see beyond our immediate experience.
Th e intelligent person who truly is the
practitioner of critical thinking has the
capacity to understand the lessons of
history, to grasp the inner logic of sci-
ence, mathematics and technology, and
to realize the meaning of philosophical
debates by studying them.1
Professor Zhao concludes that
“American education is at a crossroads.
Two paths lie in front of us: one in which
we destroy our strengths in order to
catch up with others on test scores and
one in which we build on our strengths
so we can keep the lead in innovation
and creativity.” I do not accept this
dichotomy. I am sure we will continue
figure 1: trend in 8th-grade NAEP mathematics average scores and score gaps, by racial/ethnic groups
racial/ethnic gaps persist. Signifi cant score gaps persisted between White students and their Black and Hispanic
peers in 2009. Because all three racial/ethnic groups have made progress, neither the White/Black nor the White/
Hispanic score gap in 2009 was signifi cantly diff erent from the corresponding gaps in 2007 or 1990.
dotted lines: Accomodations not premitted for students with disabilities. solid lines: Accomodations permitted.Source: U.S. Department of Education, NCSE (2009). The Nation’s Report Card: Mathematics 2009.
1990 1992 1996 2000 2003 2005 2007 2009
WHITE
SCORE GAP
SCORE GAP
WHITE
HISPANIC
BLACK
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 23
O N P O L I C Y
to lead in scientific and technological
innovation and creativity, but we will
continue to have wide achievement
gaps among our population unless we
adopt national education policies that
aim squarely at closing the achievement
gaps. Th is involves identifying, adopting
and implementing rigorous and relevant
national standards in the key subjects of
mathematics, science and language arts.
Th ese national standards would ensure
that all students regardless of race, eth-
nicity or economic status are exposed
to meaningful curriculum and instruc-
tion that will allow them to pursue their
education in an eff ective manner.
Zhao is blunt in his condemnation
of what he perceives to be the dam-
age inflicted on American education
by nclb. I, however, disagree with this
condemnation. nclb has many lofty and
worthwhile goals for improving k–12 ed-
ucation; its goal of closing the achieve-
ment gap while improving achievement
for all students is a national imperative.
Th at all students are taught by qualified
and well-trained teachers and other edu-
cators should be the right of all students,
poor or rich, of all races and ethnicities.
Our duly elected representatives at the
national and state levels must ensure
that quality k–12 education is the right
of all children, not just the economically
advantaged. If the United States moves
along the path of eff ective accountabil-
ity and quality education standards for
all, this should be interpreted not as an
“authoritarian” but as an enlightened
education reform eff ort.
Closing the achievement gap in education
nclb has been instrumental in bringing
to the surface what was once unknown
to most parents and the general public:
the huge achievement gap that exists in
our schools. nclb requires all schools
to report test results by race, ethnicity,
gender and economic status, as well
as for English language learners and
students with disabilities. Until nclb
was passed, it was illegal in some states
to disaggregate data by race, gender and
ethnicity. Th e achievement gap was left
unaddressed for far too long. nclb is
making sure schools are held account-
able for the academic
progress of every student,
and closing the achieve-
ment gap is now a national
priority.
However, national
achievement data indicate
the achievement gap has
not narrowed significantly
in recent years, despite
the focus of nclb on improving the
scores of racial, ethnic and economically
disadvantaged students. Th is is accord-
ing to results from naep, considered the
nation’s best measure of achievement
trends in mathematics and reading
proficiency.
Th ere is independent evidence indi-
cating that all groups of students have
made gains in mathematics and reading,
but the gap remains unacceptably large.
A systematic trend analysis of naep
results at the national and state level for
public school fourth and eighth graders
in reading and math during pre-nclb
(1990–2001) and post-nclb (2002–
2009) periods made the following con-
clusions related to diff erent racial/ethnic
and socioeconomic groups:2
1. nclb did not have a significant
impact on closing the achievement
gap in the naep reading and math
achievement of 4th and 8th grade
students.
2. nclb did not have a significant im-
pact on improving reading achieve-
ment in the post-nclb period.
3. nclb had a slight impact on improv-
ing the mathematics achievement
of all students. However the pace of
improvement was the same before
and after nclb.
Th ese results will stoke debate about
how to rewrite the law when the Obama
administration brings the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (esea)
up for reauthorization later this year.
Th e administration is advocating for the
adoption of rigorous national curricu-
lum standards for all students, followed
by the development of a uniform assess-
ment instrument that emphasizes criti-
cal thinking and problem solving skills,
to ensure career or college readiness for
disadvantaged students. To close the
achievement gaps, educators must give
economically disadvantaged, African
American and Hispanic students, as well
as students with special needs, access
to better resources and a more rigorous
curriculum in mathematics, science and
language arts. Th ey also must ensure
that high-quality teaching and instruc-
tion is distributed equally across schools
in affluent and poor neighborhoods.
The economic impact of the achievement gap
Economists are concerned about the
impact of the achievement gap on the
nation’s future well-being. Table 1 shows
the shift in economic demographics
in all public schools; there are now far
more lower-scoring poor minorities in
relation to economically advantaged
students. In April 2009, a report was
released that shocked both the edu-
cational and business worlds. It put a
$700 billion price tag on the “education
figure 2: trend in 8th-grade NAEP math average scores, by eligibility for free/price-reduced school lunch
ELIGIBLE FOR FREE LUNCH
NOT ELIGIBLE
“I am sure we will continue to lead in scientific and technological innovation and creativity, but we will continue to have wide achievement gaps among our population unless we adopt national education policies that aim squarely at closing the achievement gaps.”
SCOREGAP
Source: U.S. Department of Education, NCSE (2009). The Nation’s Report Card: Mathematics 2009.
n e w e d u c a t o r24
achievement gap,” and concluded that
the impact of this gap on the U.S. gross
domestic product (gdp) was equivalent
to a “permanent national recession”
much deeper and longer lasting than
the one started in 2008.3 Th is study and
others clearly show that shortfalls in
academic achievement impose heavy
and often tragic consequences, via lower
earnings, poorer health and higher rates
of incarceration. Lagging achievement
as early as fourth or eighth grade ap-
pears to be a powerful predictor of rates
of high school and college graduation, as
well as lifetime earnings.
Th ere is, nevertheless, reason to
hope—and to work. naep data show-
ing the wide variation in achievement
among states, cities and school systems
serving similar students suggests that
the opportunity and output gaps related
to today’s achievement gap can be sub-
stantially reduced. Some researchers and
studies across the country are proving
that race and poverty don’t determine
the destiny of all students; many schools
across the country are demonstrat-
ing that economically disadvantaged
children can be educated to world-class
standards. Schools that are majority
black and economically disadvantaged
are performing well above national
norms: Whitney Young High School in
Chicago, Davidson Magnet School in
Augusta, Georgia and Amistad Academy
in New Haven, Connecticut are promi-
nent examples. All of these schools off er
rigorous and in-depth comprehensive
curriculum and modes of instruction
that emphasize subject matter knowl-
edge and skills. America’s history of
bringing disadvantaged groups into the
economic and political mainstream over
time, and the progress of other nations,
suggest that large steps toward closing
the achievement gaps are possible.
Th e present nclb law relies heavily
on state-developed assessment instru-
ments (such as the Michigan Educa-
tional Assessment Program, or meap,
in Michigan) as the basis for school
accountability, which is misleading
since many state-administered tests
tend to significantly inflate achievement
levels as well as deflate racial and social
achievement gaps. Th e higher the stakes
of these state assessments, the greater
the discrepancies between state-level
naep results and that of tests developed
by each state for nclb purposes. Th ese
discrepancies were particularly large for
economically disadvantaged, African-
American and Hispanic students. Since
the inception of nclb in 2002, state
assessment results have shown improve-
ment in math and reading, but students
are not showing similar gains on the
state naep—the only independent
national test used across all 50 states
and all political jurisdictions. If nclb
continues the current policy direction,
academic achievement is not likely to
improve significantly, although it is very
possible that the 50-plus state curricula
and testing programs will continue
to give a false impression of higher
achievement in order to meet adequate
yearly progress requirements.4
Hope for the future
Th e continued existence of large achieve-
ment gaps raises doubt about the success
of nclb eff orts to provide greater and
more equitable educational opportuni-
ties, particularly as the proportions of
disadvantaged minority and economi-
cally disadvantaged students continue to
rise across the nation. Th e goal of ensur-
ing that all students have the opportu-
nity to reach their academic potential
is called into question if educational
programs continue to leave significant
proportions of students lagging behind
in their academic achievements.
A highly skilled workforce is the
lifeblood of any successful national
economy. Regrettably, the U.S. k–12
public education system is failing to
provide equitable levels of educational
performance for every student regard-
less of race, ethnicity or income level.
Th erefore, the answer to the ques-
tion: Is nclb eff ective in closing the
achievement gap in America’s public
schools? No. Th e achievement gap has
not changed significantly since 2002 in
America’s public elementary and middle
schools.
Education historian Diane Ravitch5
has written that “our public education
system is a fundamental element of our
democratic society. Our public schools
have been the pathway to opportunity
and a better life for generations of
Americans, giving them the tools to
fashion their own life and to improve
the commonwealth. To the extent we
strengthen them, we strengthen our
democracy.”
Let us hope that the proposed
changes in the Elementary and Second-
ary Education Act will help achieve the
nclb goal of closing the achievement
gaps in our public schools.
NOTES1. Ravitch, Diane. (2009, September 15). Critical
thinking? You need knowledge [Op-ed]. Th e
Boston Globe. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/edito-
rial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/09/15/criti-
cal_thinking_you_need_knowledge/
2. NAEP: Th e Nation’s Report Card (2009), U.S.
Dept. of Education. (http://nationsreportcard.
gov).
3. Th e Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap
in America’s Schools. Retrieved April 12, 2010,
from http://www.mckinsey.com/App_Media/
Images/Page_Images/Offices/SocialSector/PDF/
achievement_gap_report.pdf.
4. Lee, Jaekyung. (2007) Th e testing gap: Scientific
trials of test-driven school accountability sys-
tems for excellence and equity. Charlotte, N.C.:
Information Age Publishing.
5. Ravitch, Diane. (2010). Th e death and life of the
great American school system: How testing and
choice are undermining education. New York:
Basic Books.
table 1: percentage of students assessed in 8th-grade NAEP mathematics, by race/ethnicity (1990–2009)
race/ethnicity 1990 1992 1996 2000 2003 2005 2007 2009
White 73 73 69 65 63 6 59 58
Black 16 16 17 16 16 16 16 15
Hispanic 7 8 10 13 15 16 18 20
Asian/Pacifi c Islander 2 2 4 4 5 5 5
American Indian/Alaska Native 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 25
O N P O L I C Y
John Dirkx is looking for meaning. Context.
He believes it’s still missing from most eff orts to edu-
cate adults who have fallen behind in their academic skills.
And with today’s turbulent economy, as job loss sends
thousands more people back to the nation’s classrooms, the
problem is intensifying.
Instructors in adult basic education programs and re-
medial college courses must listen more closely, Dirkx says,
to who they serve.
Career interests, past educational experiences and
emotional issues both in and outside the classroom can
dramatically influence the success of students, especially
adult learners hoping to reshape their futures.
An MSU professor of higher, adult and lifelong educa-
GETTING
TOM
STA
NU
LIS
n e w e d u c a t o r26
ON TRACKPROFESSOR TALKS ABOUT THE TROUBLE WITH REACHING UNDERPREPARED ADULT LEARNERS
(BACK)
prior experiences and they have to overcome that.
Th ey face this need to rework their sense of self as a
learner and the lack of academic preparation, just a sheer lack
of being able to read, write and do math at a level that’s accept-
able for postsecondary work.”
Q So how big is the problem?
A “We are talking about a very large number of people . . .
If you take a look at the national population of students begin-
ning their first year in a community college, probably about 60
percent are academically underprepared in one or more of the
subjects of reading, writing or math. Th ere is a heavy propor-
tion that is academically underprepared in all three.
Also, each year we have a large number of people who
drop out of high school and don’t immediately get into
alternative high school or GED programs. Th ese kinds of
programs, the adult basic education programs, are literally the
only thing they have available to them to help them succeed at
the postsecondary level—to get to college in the first place.”
Q Are community colleges and adult education programs
well prepared to serve these populations?
A “Th ey are starting to realize how important it is for
these adults to transition into postsecondary programs. Th at’s
happened probably within the last five years, and it’s really
moving into the mainstream now. However, we are just on the
beginning cusps of that in terms of changing programs.
In the past, community colleges have relied on very
traditional forms of teaching the disciplines. Th e emotional
aspects, the issues of self confidence and reworking the learner
identity, have for the most part been relegated to counseling
services, if they are addressed at all.
tion since 1996, Dirkx has long studied how teaching and
learning can be improved by acknowledging issues of self
identity and self formation in the learning process.
He is interested in the transformative power of educa-
tion—he edits the Journal of Transformative Education
and has a forthcoming book on the topic—and consults
with Michigan agencies and community colleges seeking to
address the needs of laid-off or unemployed adults not yet
ready for postsecondary education.
Dirkx has researched programs that eff ectively inte-
grate the curriculum with adult students’ life experiences
and vocational aspirations, but too many would-be college
graduates, he says, are still falling through the cracks.
“Most have no decent alternatives, aside from education.”
So we asked Dirkx—one of a few scholars focused on
the topic—for a fuller assessment of the challenges and
opportunities facing academically underprepared adults
across this country.
Q What does an academically underprepared
adult typically encounter when they return to school?
A “Many programs require them to first take courses
and get themselves up to speed in academic areas before they
are able to pursue professional or occupational areas of prep-
aration. It’s frustrating; many didn’t do well or didn’t have a
positive attitude about schooling when they were younger.
.
When they are facing months or even years of preparation
in academic areas, they feel like they are visiting it all over
again—unless the experience has changed dramatically.
Th ey have to remake their sense of self as a learner
and develop a sense of confidence. For most of them, their
confidence about learning is in the basement some place
or below that even . . . Some of them are incredibly bright
people, gifted even, but they have developed an attitude
about education that is not very positive because of their
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 27
F A C U L T Y Q & A
Instructors are subject-matter experts and they believe
their job is to foster expertise within their particular subject
matter. I don’t think that’s what developmental education stu-
dents need. Th ey need to understand how doing writing bet-
ter, how doing math better will improve their life and chances
of employment . . .”
Q What are the consequences of dismissing personal issues
and emotions in the classroom?
A “When students start to struggle with reading or
math, there’s an immediate emotional response. Most of
them don’t [go back to school] without some amount of
anxiety. Dislocated workers tell me, ‘When I first came here,
I was scared to death.’ Th at’s the language they use. If in the
curriculum and the teaching you are not acknowledging that
aspect, you are really telling the learners that, ‘You can get
over it.’ Th at’s not what teachers are there for.
“We need to be teaching the academic skills, the so-called basics, in contexts that are meaningful to the adults who participate.”
Th ere are teachers who will let students take the time
to vent and then return to the task of learning. But in those
cases even the teachers who appreciate the need to pay atten-
tion to emotions aren’t necessarily integrating those emo-
tions into the learning process.
Developmental education programs have very high rates
of attrition. In some, 50 percent or more of the students leave
and we don’t know what happens to them. But with the em-
phasis on transition to postsecondary education, I think we
are beginning to realize that we can’t ignore the people who
are not being successful.
More and more, we understand that learning is a holistic
kind of enterprise, that you can’t just attend to the intellec-
tual aspects and ignore the aff ective dimensions.”
Q What can teachers do diff erently?
A “Let me give you an example from [a] dislocated
worker program. I was sitting with a 50-year-old man in a
math class. Th e teacher was teaching the addition and subtrac-
John Dirkx, professor of higher, adult and lifelong education (HALE),
teaches a course for HALE doctoral students at Michigan State University.
n e w e d u c a t o r28
tion of mixed fractions. It’s a concept that’s hard for many
people to understand. Th is man said, ‘Why do we need to
know this?’ Th e teacher said, ‘Well, you are going to need this
in order to complete Chapter 8 successfully.’ Th at meant, of
course, nothing to him.
It would have been far better for her to open up the conver-
sation, to legitimize his question and say, ‘We’re learning this
for more than just passing a test. We’re learning this because it
means something, or it can mean something, in our lives.’
Adult learners are meaning-oriented. We need to be teach-
ing the academic skills, the so-called basics, in contexts that
are meaningful to the adults who participate . . .”
Q How do programs incorporate more of the context
they need?
A “Most of these programs would be improved if they
took the curriculum and revised it so that the basic skills are
taught within the context of some aspect of career awareness.
It can’t always be a specific career preparation program—some
studying adult learning at msu
As a member of the Higher, Adult and Lifelong Education (HALE) faculty at MSU, John Dirkx helps prepare
master’s and doctoral students for various leadership and teaching roles that support adult learners. He focuses
on remedial, occupational and professional education, as well as professional development for teachers in
higher and adult education. Visit www.education.msu.edu/ead/hale.
adult learners don’t know what they want to do for sure—but
we know enough about career pathways that if people are
interested in health for example, they don’t have to start out in
a program for registered nurses . . .
Most academically underprepared adults, by in large,
are seeking gainful employment. Th ey want jobs that are
going to provide for their livelihood, and meaningful work
would be nice too. Th ey are going to need some form of
postsecondary education . . . It’s not going to happen with
simply a high school education anymore. And in order to
help them get through that process, we have to have, on a
very large scale, transformation of these programs so that the
basic skills and the vocational dimensions are interconnected
and integrated.”
Q How can colleges begin to make these changes?
A “It’s certainly through professional development and
increased awareness, but you don’t just do this class by class.
You do this as an institution. You try to create a change in the
culture of teaching within the institution.
Th ere are a variety of diff erent institutions around the
country that are known now for being leaders of these
practices, of really paying attention to developing contextual
approaches to developmental education . . .
We know what needs to be done. Th is is not a secret.
We’ve known for a good 15 to 20 years that we need to be
using more integrated and contextual approaches in the teach-
ing of adults. We have known about it at a theoretical level.
We know that some teachers are experimenting with it, but at
an institutional basis, we have had a great deal of difficulty get-
ting wholesale adoption of these practices into teaching.
Th at’s true for developmental education and very true for
adult basic education where the teaching is often part time.
For so long, we have felt that this could be done on the backs
of volunteers and tutors and retired teachers. Th ese volunteers
are heartfelt and they care a lot but caring a lot is not going to
really do what needs to be done.”
| on the webhttp://john.dirkx.net
“We have to have transformation of theseprograms so that the basic skills and the vocationaldimensions are interconnected and integrated.”
TOM
STA
NU
LIS
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 29
F A C U L T Y Q & A
Guofang Li, associate professor of second language and liter-
acy education, was presented with the 2010 aera Early Career
Award during the American Educational Research Associa-
tion Annual Meeting in Denver this spring. Th e prestigious
honor—which went to fellow College of Education professor
Nell K. Duke last year—recognizes a scholar’s distinguished
portfolio of cumulative research within the first decade after
receiving a doctoral degree.
Li, who earned her Ph.D. from the University
of Saskatchewan in 2000, has been committed to
studying how immigrant and minority students
bridge language and literacy gaps in the United
States. Originally from a Chinese village where few
children went to school, Li is particularly inter-
ested in the home literacy practices of Asian im-
migrants and the cultural and educational conflicts
arising between families and mainstream schools.
A principal investigator with the Literacy Achievement
Research Center (larc), Li’s work has appeared in many
top-tier journals. Her publications include a monograph and
seven books, including Culturally Contested Pedagogy: Battles
of Literacy and Schooling between Mainstream Teachers and
Asian Immigrant Parents, for which she won the Edward Fry
Book Award from the National Reading Conference in 2006.
She also is co-editor, with MSU Professor Patricia A.
Edwards, of Best Practices in ELL Instruction out this
spring from Guilford Press.
Prior to joining MSU, Li was an assistant pro-
fessor at the University at Buff alo, where she was a
recipient of the 2004 Outstanding Young Investiga-
tor Award. She also previously won the Early Career
Award from Division G of aera.
Li will now present the Early Career Award
Lecture during aera’s annual meeting in 2011.
Faculty Selected to Edit Journal of Literacy Research
Five faculty members from the College of
Education have been selected to serve as editors
of the Journal of Literacy Research (JLR), an
honor reserved for the nation’s top scholars on
literacy, language and education.
Douglas K. Hartman (far left) and Susan Florio-Ruane (left), both professors of teacher
education, became lead editors starting on Jan. 1. Th eir editorial team of co-editors,
in place through 2012, includes teacher education faculty members Nell K. Duke,
Laura Apol and Jeff rey Bale, along with four colleagues at the University of Con-
necticut.
Th e interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed research journal is a publication of the Lit-
eracy Research Association, formerly the National Reading Conference.
Hartman, who came to MSU as senior editor of the JLR, said the group re-
competed for the editorship against an open field of proposals from other academic
institutions across the country.
“When you have a field as diverse as literacy, you need a faculty with expertise
that can approach that diversity,” he said, noting that MSU is home to one of the na-
tion’s largest and most productive literacy research centers.
Th e Literacy Achievement Research Center, or larc, brings together 26 prin-
cipal investigators and 45 research assistants studying related topics ranging from in-
formational literacy and poetry to teacher development and digital communication.
Doctoral students will have additional opportunities to experience the scholarly
publication process while the JLR remains based in the College of Education.
“Th e university has made an investment in
literacy research through larc,” said Florio-Ruane.
“It’s a gathering place and a catalyst for excellent
scholars—and also for mentoring.”
Li Wins AERA Early Career Award
| journal of literacy researchwww.nrconline.org/jlr.html
| literacy achievement research centerwww.msularc.org
Kinesiology Chair Is
National Track Champion
Department of
Kinesiology
Chairperson
Deborah L. Feltzbecame the 800-
meter champion in track in
the 55–59 age group during
the National Senior Olym-
pics in summer 2009—beat-
ing her previous time by
more than 13 seconds.
Feltz is an expert in
sport psychology who says
her research on self-efficacy
has helped her achieve success
on the track. She started com-
peting in the Senior Olympics at
age 50 and expects to improve
her time again at the games
in 2011.
n e w e d u c a t o r30
31
Twenty-five
thousand feet
above the green hills
of Germany during
World War II, Louis Sta-
matakos stood straddling
the sky, feet hooked in the
ribs of his crew’s aircraft. Cold air—oh,
you can’t imagine how cold—rushed
at the 19-year-old tail gunner from the
nose of the plane. Around him, people
screamed bloody murder. Pings of metal
sounded as anti-aircrafts exploded. And
he knew: One misstep and he was gone.
Two bombs were caught below the
plane, and Stamatakos had been chosen
to hack them off .
Hanging on to the side of the plane,
with an axe in hand, he struck the shack-
les holding the bomb. Again and again
he swung at them, until both bombs fell.
Almost 65 years later, Stamata-
kos, now an 84-year-old retired MSU
professor, walks to the front of a room, a
cane in hand. His wife, three sons, their
wives, seven grandchildren and a crowd
of onlookers watch as a small star is
pinned onto the jacket of his suit.
It’s a Silver Star—one of the nation’s
highest honors for bravery in combat.
Long after the plane landed that day in
1945 and the men kissed the ground,
long after Stamatakos returned home,
married and was hired for the “best job
in the world,” the star was presented to
him during a ceremony on Feb. 17, 2010
in the House Speaker’s library in the
state Capitol.
“I thank you for coming, for honor-
ing me at this time,” Stamatakos said at
the ceremony. “And I honor you for your
friendship, for your patience on occa-
sion and for taking time off from your
lives and your weeks and honoring me. I
thank you all. Th is is very touching and
I’ll never forget it.”
>> excerpted from The State News, by Brittany Shammas, Feb. 18, 2010
Many faculty members and students
from the College of Education—past and
present—were in the audience that day,
proud to see their former colleague and
teacher hailed for an act of outstanding
leadership long before he pledged his
service to the improvement of higher
education.
Stamatakos joined what is now
called the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong
Education (hale) faculty in 1967 and
retired 25 years later. Along with a few
other professors, he is credited with
developing programs in student aff airs
administration that broke new ground
in the field and established MSU as a
lasting national leader.
Stamatakos also prepared numerous
doctoral students—perhaps more than
anyone in the country at the time—who
went on to become senior student
aff airs officers and college presidents.
He was committed to creating learning
environments and practitioner-scholars
that would really take the overall well-
being of students seriously.
Each year, an award is given in
Stamatakos’ name to a master’s student
who demonstrates a strong commit-
ment to the student aff airs profession
and to the ethical standards that epito-
mize his values.
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin presented
Stamatakos with the Silver Star after his
sons—Philip, Th eodore and Timothy—
tracked down survivors of the mis-
sion over Germany and submitted his
nomination to the Army. Stamatakos
was surprised with the news when he
received a package on Christmas Eve.
He lives in Okemos with his wife,
Bess, and remains connected to the
hale programs at MSU.
Okemos resident Louis Stamatakos salutes U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) after being presented with a Silver Star
medal on Feb. 17, 2010 at the Capitol. Stamatakos, a retired MSU professor, received the award for heroic action
during World War II.
HONORING HER✪ISMRETIRED PROF. LOUIS STAMATAKOS RECEIVES SILVER STAR
-fiv
nd f
een
urin
ouis
add
the sky, feet hooked in
ib f hi ’ i f C ld i
Twenty-
thousan
above the gre
of Germany du
World War II, Lo
matakos stood stra
the sky feet hooked
PHO
TOS
BY G
EORG
IA R
HO
DES
/TH
E ST
ATE
NEW
S
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0
F A C U L T Y
BOOKSKinesiology professors emeriti Janet Wessel and Gail Dummer are co-
authors, with former MSU instruc-
tor Luke Kelly and doctoral graduate
Th omas Sampson, of Everyone Can!
Skill Development and Assessment in
Elementary Physical Education (with
Web Resources), a curriculum resource
for teachers and text for college courses
related to curriculum and instruction.
It was released by Human Kinetics Pub-
lishers in 2010.
Lynn Fendler, associate professor of
teacher education, is the author of Mi-
chel Foucault, a book in the Continuum
Library of Educational Th ought series,
which is a major international reference
on the work of seminal educational
thinkers. Her book was published in
early 2010.
Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela is
co-editor, with Fatma Nevra Seggie, of
Islam and Higher Education in Transi-
tional Societies, published in 2009 (Rot-
terdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers).
Professor of measurement and quanti-
tative methods Mark D. Reckase is the
author of Multidimensional Item Re-
sponse Th eory, part of the Statistics for
Social and Behavioral Sciences series
published by Springer (2009).
Kristen A. Renn, associate professor of
higher, adult and lifelong education,
is the co-author, with Nancy J. Evans,
Deanna S. Forney, Florence M. Guido
and Lori D. Patton, of Student Develop-
ment in College: Th eory, Research, and
Practice, Second Edition, published in
2009 (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass).
Barbara Schneider is co-editor with
Kathleen Christensen of Workplace
Flexibility: Realigning 20th-Century
Jobs for a 21st-Century Workforce,
published in spring 2010 (Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Press).
Associate professor of special educa-
tion Gary A. Troia is the co-editor, with
doctoral students Rebecca K. Shank-
land and Anne Heintz, of Putting Writ-
ing Research into Practice: Applications
for Teacher Professional Development,
published in 2010 (New York: Guilford
Press).
KUDOSMarilyn Amey, professor and chairper-
son of the Department of Educational
Administration, received the inaugural
Mentoring Award from the Associa-
tion for the Study of Higher Education
(ashe). Th e award honors an individual
who has shown, through their men-
toring activities, a tireless dedication
to the future of ashe and the higher
education profession.
In addition, Amey was recently
named editor of the naspa Journal
About Women in Higher Education.
hale graduate students will join Amey
as managing editors during her three-
year appointment ending in March
2013.
Professor of higher, adult and lifelong
education Ann E. Austin was selected as
an aera Fellow, a distinction intended
to recognize American Educational
Research Association members known
nationally and internationally for their
sustained, outstanding contributions
to education research. Austin, who
also directs the Global Institute for
Higher Education at MSU, was one of
67 fellows inducted for 2010, the pro-
gram’s third year. College of Education
professors Barbara Schneider, William
H. Schmidt, Jere Brophy (deceased)
and professor emeritus Joe Byers were
previously named among the inaugural
aera Fellows.
FACULTY NOTES
n e w e d u c a t o r32
Matthew Diemer, associate professor of
counseling, is the first recipient of the
Early Career Professional Award given
by the Society for Vocational Psychol-
ogy, a section of the American Psycho-
logical Association, Division 17. Diemer
received the honor at the APA meeting
last August.
Professor of teacher education Patricia A. Edwards received a Scholastic He-
roes award at the 2010 Scholastic Class-
room and Library Group Book Summit
in honor of her eff orts to promote the
importance of literacy education. Th e
summit was held in Palm Beach, Fla. in
February.
Edwards, president of the Interna-
tional Reading Association, also was
invited to be a Scholar-in-Residence at
the National Alliance of Black School
Educators (nabse) conference in India-
napolis last November.
Professor of kinesiology Dan Gould,
who directs the Institute for the Study
of Youth Sports, received an honorary
doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit
Brussel (VUB) near Brussels, Belgium
on December 9, 2009. Th e university
presented the honor to Gould for
his 30-year record of research and
outreach in applied sport psychol-
ogy. While in Brussels, he discussed
developing a continuing relationship
between faculty from the VUB depart-
ment of Sport Policy and Management
and from the MSU Department of Ki-
nesiology. Gould also gave a variety of
lectures and workshops during his stay.
Assistant professor of teacher educa-
tion Beth Herbel-Eisenmann received
the 2010 Early Career Award from the
Association of Mathematics Teacher
Educators (amte). Herbel-Eisenmann,
who was recognized during the amte
conference in January, honors members
for outstanding early career contribu-
tions in teaching, service and scholar-
ship.
James T. Minor, assistant professor of
higher, adult and lifelong education,
received the 2010 Outstanding Recent
Graduate Award from the School of
Education at University of Wisconsin–
Madison. Minor was selected in honor
of his eff orts to advance educational
equity and his contributions to higher
education policy and academic gover-
nance, particularly through his research
on Historically Black Colleges and
Universities. He earned his Ph.D. from
the school’s Department of Educational
Leadership and Policy Analysis in 2001.
Kristin Phillips, assistant professor of
teacher education, has received the
2009 Gail P. Kelly Award for Outstand-
ing Dissertation from the Comparative
and International Education Society
(cies). Phillips, who earned her Ph.D.
at the University of Wisconsin–Madi-
son, was honored for research on
educational development issues in
rural Tanzania. She is now helping to
lead a major MSU outreach project in
Tanzania.
Kristen A. Renn, associate professor
of higher, adult and lifelong educa-
tion, was named an American College
Personnel Association (acpa) Diamond
Honoree. Th e award recognizes higher
education professionals who, through-
out their careers, have made outstand-
ing contributions to higher education
and to student aff airs in particular.
Renn was recognized at acpa’s 2010
convention in Boston.
Professor of counseling Robbie Stew-ard received a 2009 Supervision and
Training Section award from Divi-
sion 17 of the American Psychological
Association (Counseling Psychology)
for excellence in supervising student
research activities. Two of her research
teams also received outstanding poster
presentation awards from Division
17 at the APA meeting in August.
Recipients include former counseling
students Aaron Smith and Molly Heyn,
Shavonne Moore, Lisa Pohl, Kristin
Zupek and Sharea Ayers.
Gary A. Troia, associate professor of
special education, is now serving as
president of the Council for Excep-
tional Children’s Division for Commu-
nicative Disabilities and Deafness.
Michelle Williams, assistant professor
of teacher education, was a visiting
scholar at the Wisconsin Center for
Educational Research at University
of Wisconsin–Madison on April 4–6,
2010. She was nominated to participate
in the Visiting Minority Scholars Lec-
ture Series, which aims to celebrate and
promote the contributions of minority
scholars in education, strengthening
ties with faculty at UW and throughout
the nation.
Emily Brozovic, graphic designer for the
College of Education, and Nicole Geary,
communications manager, received a
Silver Award for Best Annual Report
in the 2009 Pride of case v Awards
Program (a division of the Council for
Advancement and Support of Educa-
tion). Th e award recognizes the col-
lege’s 2007–08 Annual Report.
IN MEMORIAMEdwin S. Andrews, associate professor emeritus of teacher
education, died Dec. 4, 2009 at age 81. Andrews joined
the faculty in 1968 and retired in 1991. His wife, Shirley,
survives.
Robert C. Hatfield, professor emeritus of teacher educa-
tion, died February 27, 2010 at age 80. Hatfield joined
the faculty in 1969 and retired in 1992. His wife, Patricia,
survives.
Kenneth Neff , professor emeritus of education administra-
tion, died Dec. 7, 2009 at age 81. Neff joined the faculty in
1966 and retired in 1992. His wife, Helen, survives.
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 33
F A C U L T Y
After
receiving a
degree in packaging
engineering, Shuhan (Hannah) Yang
had to shift career plans dramatically in
order to follow her passion for studying
teachers.
However, the education master’s
student from Chongqing, China says
she didn’t realize she wanted to pursue
a Ph.D. in the field until she traveled all
the way to Michigan State University.
Yang spent most of the last academic
year experiencing American student
culture, coursework and approaches to
research in the MSU College of Educa-
tion as one of 10 students and two fac-
ulty members visiting from Southwest
University (SWU) in Chongqing.
Th e delegation’s extended stay
in East Lansing represents the latest
exchange in a partnership involving
the two institutions, a relationship
creating new opportunities to embrace
global perspectives at each university—
and for each scholar involved.
“I feel more ambitious now, like I
want to bring some changes to classes
in China,” said Yang, whose studies will
focus on issues facing minority teach-
ers in her region after she returns. “I am
learning so much, and not just about
research methods.”
Officials at SWU’s College of Educa-
tion chose to sponsor the seven-month
trip as an opportunity for their students
to learn about the educational system
in the United States and to develop new
perspectives that can inform their own
research and teaching.
Last May, MSU coordinated a
three-week study trip to China for
eight MSU doctoral students as well
as eight students from the University
of Washington and the University of
Delaware, which also are partners in the
exchange program. Th e trip provided a
rich and intensive array of experiences
for students to learn about the dynamics
of the educational system in China and
to meet with teachers, administrators,
policy leaders and scholars at major
universities.
Southwest University hosted part of
that group and will host fellows from the
three participating American universi-
ties again this spring.
MSU College of Education Dean
Carole Ames’ vision for establishing
such a partnership first materialized
while leading a study tour in China two
years ago.
Th e growing relationship with SWU
is aff ording the kind of exchange and
engagement that will benefit graduate
students as they become teacher educa-
tors, researchers, educational leaders or
policymakers.
Gaining global understandings and
knowledge through first-hand experi-
ences is critical for all professions, and
especially educators.
“A strong foundation”
Th e College of Education organized an
extensive agenda for the SWU delega-
tion in Michigan.
After touring campus and settling
into apartments last September, the
scholars were presented with a range
of activities to help them expand their
understanding of higher education in
the U.S., interact with expert faculty and
build relationships with educators who
have similar scholarly interests.>> N I C O L E G E A R Y
DECEMBER JANUARY
21 Arrival 14 Visit to Oxford Community
Schools
31 Halloween party 16 Holiday party
Partnering for New PerspectivesSTUDENTS, FACULTY FROM CHINA’S SOUTHWEST UNIVERSITY SPEND ACADEMIC YEAR AT MSU
NOVEMBEROCTOBER
21 Arrival 1
n e w e d u c a t o r34
Each SWU student was paired with
a faculty mentor and a graduate student
mentor, as well as one relevant course to
observe each semester.
As a group, the scholars visited k–12
schools and attended in-depth seminars
with College of Education professors
nearly every week. Topics ranged from
the overall structure of American educa-
tion and teacher preparation to poetry,
physical development, science teaching
and special education.
“Th ey’re getting a strong foundation
in the U.S. educational system and a
certain number of research and policy
issues,” said assistant professor Peter
Youngs, who mentored one of the SWU
students and gave a lecture to the group
on U.S. policy aff ecting teacher quality
and preparation. “Th e experience is
going to help them advance with their
own academic work in various ways.”
Beyond scheduled courses and
events, many of the students also
joined informal study and discussion
groups. Some developed unique con-
nections with educators from outside
MSU whom they met during visits
to schools and meetings of lattice
(Linking All Types of Teachers through
International Cross-cultural Education)
or gift (Global Initiative Forum for
Future Teachers, see page 36).
‘New friendships
and open minds’
SWU doctoral student Hongen (Grant)
Li, who joined the gift planning com-
mittee, was asked to assist a teacher
from nearby Wardcliff Elementary by as-
sessing the learning abilities of a young
student from China. He helped break
down a language barrier in the school
and with it, some of his own ideas about
instruction in American classrooms.
“Coming to MSU has been a very
good chance to broaden my perspec-
tives,” said Li, whose research focuses
on curriculum and pedagogy. By talking
with faculty and students, he was also
able to gain new insights about the role
of extended field placements and Web
2.0 technologies in a teacher preparation
program.
“Th is program has provided a very
good opportunity for both SWU and
MSU to explore diff erent education
systems, and also diff erent cultures.”
Scholars from the two nations
came together to celebrate Halloween,
Christmas and Chinese New Year, to
make traditional Chinese dumplings and
hear marching band music, to thank one
another for new friendships and open
minds. Dean Ames hosted a special
dinner and reception for all participating
faculty and students at Cowles House
(the MSU president’s house) in February.
Assistant Dean Barbara Markle, who
hosted Th anksgiving and Christmas cel-
ebrations at her home, said interacting
over the course of an entire academic
year—building on strong ties already
established in China—has allowed the
graduate students and faculty members
involved to get to know each other on
a personal and intellectual level despite
their diff erences.
And that can be priceless.
“Th is gives them a terrific profes-
sional base to begin their career as a
scholar,” Markle said. “Th ose are relation-
ships that can last throughout a career.”
| southwest universitywww.swnu.edu.cn/english
a continuing relationship: the next exchange
Seven Ph.D. students in the College of Education representing a cross-section
of disciplines were selected to travel to China this spring as participants of the
second annual Doctoral Fellowship for Enhancing Global Understanding.
The Southwest University College of Education in Chongqing will host the
group, which also includes six students from University of Washington and three
from University of Delaware, from May 13 to June 5.
Since 10 students from SWU spent the 2009–10 year at MSU, some of the
traveling U.S. scholars will have met and interacted with many of their Chinese
peers before they arrive in country. Their agenda includes visits to schools, time
with faculty mentors, lectures from leading SWU education professors and an
opportunity to present their own work.
Departure 21
FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL
19 Mentor thank-you reception at Cowles House
4 GIFT6 Chinese New Year celebration at Okemos Library
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 35
S T U D E N T S
It’s a Thursday night at Erickson
Hall and an unusual mix of two dozen
faces gather around tables: sophomores
and second-year Ph.D. candidates, MSU
faculty and local teachers, students from
Michigan, Minnesota, Indonesia and
China, to name a few.
“If you want to learn
about other people, the
first thing you need to
know is their name,” one
facilitator wearing a blue t-
shirt says and turns to write
his own—Dwi Yuliantoro—
on a board. In Javanese,
he explains, the last name
means ‘someone who can
conquer.’
Participants follow his
example and silence soon
gives way to lively conversa-
tions around the room, each person’s
name touching off mini-lessons about
language, history and culture.
It is only a warm-up for the evening’s
discussion about bringing global perspec-
tives into k–12 classrooms—one in a
series of monthly sessions designed to
forge new connections between domestic
and international scholars in education.
Th e Global Initiative Forum for
Future Teachers, or gift, provides a
unique form of ongoing professional
development for pre-service teachers
in the College of Education by allowing
them to learn about diverse cultures and
educational issues alongside interna-
tional graduate students.
Th e forums, which began during the
2008–09 year, have attracted up to 50
people at a time with presentations on
topics such as teaching abroad, interna-
tionalizing the curriculum and what it
means to be a global citizen.
“It’s really eye-opening every time,”
said Abby Vermeulen, a sophomore
teacher candidate enrolled in the Global
Educators Cohort Program (gecp).
Members of the Global Educators
Cohort Program, more than 50 teacher
education students who experience spe-
cialized courses and activities focused
on developing the skills needed to teach
in global contexts, are expected to at-
tend all gift sessions.
“gift takes what we’re learning in
the classroom and gives us an outside
perspective,” said Ashley Maloff , a gecp
sophomore who serves on the gift
planning committee. “It enriches the
cohort experience, and we always get
such a diverse group of people.”
Scholars visiting from China’s South-
west University attended many sessions
during the 2009–10 year. In total, the
college is home to nearly 200 interna-
tional graduate students from more than
40 countries. Many of them are eager
to mentor and share their heritage and
expertise with prospective teachers, and
vice versa.
“I believe that I still need to improve
my teaching,” said Ainur Rosyid, a
teacher from Indonesia pursuing a
master’s degree in k–12 educational
administration at MSU. “Th at’s why I
am often inspired by the experiences of
teachers from other countries.”
Along with international students,
gift attendees also often include faculty
and teachers from local-area schools.
Th e program is modeled after the suc-
cess of the lattice network (Linking
All Types of Teachers to International
Cross-cultural Education), which
encourages practicing teachers to col-
laborate with international students and
scholars at MSU as they integrate global
perspectives into their classrooms.
| on the webgift.wiki.educ.msu.edu
GIFT Sessions Create Learning Community for Future Teachers, International Students
student group ready for global action
The members of AIMS may be starting small, but they hope their ideas will add
up to substantial improvements for people in other parts of the world.
As a new student group at MSU, AIMS (Action for International Movement
and Sustainability) raised money for earthquake victims in Indonesia last fall and
has now begun a project that could lead to building private latrines for girls at
schools in sub-Saharan Africa.
Members include students in the Global Educators Cohort Program (GECP)
as well as other undergraduate and graduate students from the College of
Education, and from other disciplines across campus. Organizer Annie Kelly, a
post-BA student pursuing her teaching certificate, said they are committed to
developing global outreach initiatives that can be sustained over time.
“The world is increasingly globalized and open, so it makes sense to try to
think of ourselves as global citizens and help wherever we see the opportunity,”
she said.
AIMS also began collecting materials needed at the Refugee Development
Center in Lansing this spring.
For more information, e-mail [email protected] or call (517) 242-5979.
Ainur Rosyid, a graduate student from Indonesia, explains the meaning of his
name during a warm-up session of GIFT—the Global Initiative Forum for Future
Teachers—in February 2010.
n e w e d u c a t o r36
Kinesiology Scholar Honored for Teaching on Campus
Kinesiology doctoral student Sheila Kelly received an Excellence-in-
Teaching Citation from MSU during the university’s annual Awards
Convocation in February. Kelly was honored for outstanding eff orts to
motivate and engage undergraduate students as an instructor for many
of the required kinesiology courses. She also shows great promise as
a scholar in her field, publishing and presenting her research at the
national level.
On the Forefront of Research: Student News from AERA
n Annis N. Brown, a doctoral candidate in teacher education, was
elected to serve as chair-elect for the Graduate Student Council (GSC)
of the American Educational Research Association (aera) during
2009–10. She becomes chair and earns a seat on the aera national
council following the annual aera meeting in May. Brown previ-
ously served as a division representative and a community leader of
the GSC, which provides a national network of resources for student
scholars in education.
n Kenne Dibner, a Ph.D. student in educational policy, was honored by
the Law and Education Special Interest Group of aera for submitting
the best student proposal for the 2010 aera meeting. Dibner received
the Emerging Scholar Award during the conference on May 3 in Denver.
n Two sophomores in the college’s Urban Educators Cohort Program
were selected to participate in the aera Undergraduate Student Educa-
tion Research Training Workshop during the organization’s national
meeting this spring. As fellows, Lindsey Barrett and Alexis Jacksonwere introduced to education research, including various methods
and applications, from senior researchers across the country. Th ey
also worked with faculty and graduate student mentors and attended
pre-selected presentations. Th eir registration and lodging expenses are
covered by aera.
EAD Doctoral Student Oversees Curriculum
in Local District
Kari Krantz-Selleck, a Ph.D. student in k–12 educational administration,
was recently hired as executive director of curriculum and staff devel-
opment at Holt Public Schools in Holt, Mich. Selleck, who also received
her bachelor’s
degree in elemen-
tary education and
master’s degree
in curriculum
and instruction
from MSU, was
previously cur-
riculum director
at Corunna Public
Schools in Co-
runna, Mich.
outstanding graduates, spring 2010
n highest academic achievement awards
Kristen Eichorn, Kinesiology
Laura Freitag, Special Education–Learning Disabilities
Laura Gibson, Kinesiology
Kirsten Kumpar, Secondary Education–French
Kristen Yankoviak, Elementary Education
Lauren Zedan, Secondary Education–Biological Sciencen outstanding service awards
Lauren DuLac, Elementary Education
Ashley Kline, Secondary Education–History
Undergrads Co-present at National Conference
A pair of teacher education doctoral students recently shared
the spotlight with four seniors from the College of Education during a
presentation for the National Council of Teachers of English (ncte) in
Philadelphia.
Joanna Dueweke, Lindsey Polinko, Brittney McCullers and Amalia
Dunlap, who each represent diff erent teaching majors, served as
co-presenters during a panel session about using a variety of texts
and other media while teaching in secondary classrooms. Instructors
Cathleen Clara and Sheila Marquardt, both Ph.D. students, arranged
for the group to attend the November conference after remarking that
the field of education should see the work of undergraduates in their
te 302 courses.
Th eir co-presenters were comfortable and articulate while respond-
ing to the critiques of teachers and teacher educators. Clara and Mar-
quardt said the experience “has empowered these pre-service teachers
to be advocates for culturally relevant pedagogy and to interact well
with experienced colleagues.”
Th e group received financial support from the
Department of Teacher Education and the Under-
graduate Research Office at MSU.
TE Doctoral Student Honored for International Work
Dwi Yuliantoro, a doctoral student in curriculum,
instruction and teacher education, received a
Homer Higbee International Education
Award for exceptional service to advance
international understanding and coopera-
tion at MSU. Th e honor, presented by
International Studies and Programs
on March 24, recognizes Yuliantoro’s
engagement in activities such as
Speakers Bureau, gift (Global
Initiative Forum for Future
Teachers) and lattice (Linking
All Types of Teachers to Interna-
tional Cross-cultural Education),
his eff orts to recruit students from his
home country of Indonesia and many other
contributions outside his academic studies.
al support from the
ion
SU
Hrk
en
on
uc
o a
d c
ted
am
tor
g
-
,
om
m
mi
support from the
n and the Under-
U.
Honored k
nt in curriculum,
n, received a
cation
advance
coopera-
d by
ms
ro’s
m his
many other
ic studies.
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 37
S T U D E N T S
Education Am
n e w e d u c a t o r38
Last year, Lindsay (Martin) Knippen-
berg tunneled into the base of a 50-foot-
deep glacier to challenge the limits for
life on Earth.
Meanwhile, she encouraged more
than a few young people to broaden
their perspectives about science—and
consider new possibilities for their
future.
Hundreds of U.S. students and
fellow teachers, back in the comfort of
their classrooms, followed Knippenberg
as she spent two frozen, thrilling months
on a research expedition studying
micro organisms in Antarctica.
Th e journey was part of PolarTREC,
a National Science Foundation–funded
program that allows k–12 teachers to
conduct cutting-edge polar research
and share their experiences through
blogs, discussion boards and Webinars.
Only 15 teachers were selected for the
2009–10 school year from more than
250 applicants across the nation.
“I try to do things with my students
to show them that you can go outside
your comfort zone and achieve great
things,” said Knippenberg, a high school
biology teacher in St. Clair Shores,
Mich. “Most of them thought I was
crazy, but it was inspiring to see them
get excited about science in ways they
wouldn’t have before.”
Polar science, after all, isn’t covered
by state objectives and benchmarks for
science content. And it’s not every day
that the average high school teacher
endures –40° temps in the name of
learning.
But Knippenberg, who gradu-
ated from MSU’s secondary education
program in 2002, doesn’t shy away from
unique opportunities to enrich her
teaching in the field.
She went on research trips to study
seals in Alaska and wolves in Michigan’s
Upper Peninsula as an undergraduate
at MSU. Th en she hiked through the
mucky wetlands of an Ohio wildlife
refuge while working on her master’s
degree in environmental science from
University of Michigan–Dearborn.
At South Lake High School, where
she’s been teaching for seven years,
Knippenberg organizes a host of
community-based projects for students
as coordinator of the Environmental
Club. Principal Lou Steigerwald wasn’t
surprised to see her pursue PolarTREC.
“It’s the sort of thing that Lindsay
does to extend her knowledge—go and
find new things to know about and bring
them to her classes,” he said.
An extreme learning experience
From her tent in the McMurdo Dry Val-
leys of Antarctica, Knippenberg huddled
over a laptop and documented her
daily activities via satellite. She posted
pictures, described ongoing field work,
mapped out lesson ideas for teachers
and carried on conversations with stu-
dents all through her own section of the
PolarTREC Web site.
When the Grosse Ile, Mich. native
wasn’t translating complex biogeochem-
ical concepts into language for a general
audience, she was doing everything the
researchers did: cutting ice blocks by
chainsaw (go to polartrec.com to see
a video of the full tunneling process),
drawing samples of glacial sediment and
(later) running tests in the laboratory.
Th e six-person team from Montana
State University and Louisiana State
University was looking for proof that
microorganisms can live trapped inside
Antarctic debris-rich glacier ice—a
question with implications for the
extreme conditions of icy moons and
“Most of them thought I was crazy, but it was inspiring to see them get excited about science in ways they wouldn’t have before.”
bitions in Antarctica
TEACHING ALUM SHARES POLAR RESEARCH EXPEDITION WITH CLASSROOMS AROUND COUNTRY
>> N I C O L E G E A R Y
.
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 39
A L U M N I
planets elsewhere in our solar system.
Th e researchers found strong prelimi-
nary evidence but need more analysis.
“We teach about the scientific
method, but to watch me go through
it helps students understand how it
actually works,” said Knippenberg,
who made an introductory trip to lead
principal investigator Mark Skidmore’s
Montana State lab last summer and
hopes to continue collaborating with the
team.
Th e “elegantly simple” class experi-
ments and other strategies Knippenberg
devised to synthesize science concepts
while in Antarctica have already inspired
Skidmore, a geomicrobiologist, to share
his research in local schools.
“Most scientists are adept at their
work, but relating it to middle or high
school kids, that’s not where our skill set
lies,” he said. “If I wasn’t excited about
science by my teachers, I don’t think I
would have gone on to be a scientist.
“It’s important to train the next
generation.”
Making it real, memorable
Always enthusiastic about science, Knip-
penberg says she nearly traded teach-
ing for a career in research herself. Th e
chance to influence kids—and Michigan
State’s full-year teaching internship—
won her over.
“Th inking back, I remember how
easy my first year of teaching was and
how prepared I felt,” she said. “It was al-
most like I was starting my second year
of teaching, not my first . . . Now I’ve
been doing it for seven years and I can’t
imagine anything diff erent.”
Leaving her classroom for Antarctica
(NSF paid for the substitute teacher),
she was free to follow in the climbing
shoe prints of top-notch researchers and
revel in the splendor of bright blue ice
under 24-hour sun.
Still, she became most immersed
in making the dreamlike world real for
students.
Blogging, about where bacteria
could grow and what it takes to run a
about PolarTREC www.polartrec.com
expeditions PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and
Collaborating) allows k–12 teachers to participate in cutting-edge polar research,
working closely with scientists as a pathway to improving science education. It is
funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by the Arctic Research
Consortium of the U.S. The application period for 2010–11 has already closed.
Interested teachers and research teams should write to [email protected] to
be placed on an electronic mailing list.
resources PolarTREC provides several resources for teachers and their
classes interested in learning about polar science.
• virtual base camp: An opportunity to follow and ask questions about
current and previous research expeditions through photos, journals and
discussion boards.
• learning resources: A searchable collection of articles, lesson plans,
activities and interactive media related to the Arctic and Antarctica.
• care network: A professional development network that uses online
meetings to support the integration of science research experiences into
classroom curriculum.
• twitter: @PolarTREC
40
Ubiquitous, user-friendly and
ever-evolving, the many venues of
social media continue to expand.
Consider these statistics compiled by
Jake Hird, a senior research analyst
for Econsultancy (econsultancy.com):
• Facebook’s 350 million users
worldwide post 3.5 billion pieces
of content each week.
• Twitter has 75 million users who
average 1.3 million tweets each
hour.
• LinkedIn has over 50 million
members worldwide.
• Flickr now hosts more than 4 bil-
lion images.
• Wikipedia has more than 14 million articles—
nearly a million added in the last six months.
Th ough just the tip of the iceberg, this is really
powerful. What does it mean for us?
As professionals, educators and learners, I be-
lieve it means opportunity. Opportunity to grow
and to connect with others around the world who
are immersed in the same work that we do every
day.
I am a middle school teacher and since
October 2009, I’ve been involved in a
technology-rich, practice-embedded
professional development program called
PLP—Powerful Learning Practice. One
part of this process has been to build a
Personal Learning Network using tools
such as Twitter. At first, I was skeptical.
Why would I want to spend time tweet-
ing trivial information? Twitter seemed to be the
silliest thing I’d ever come across. It isn’t. When
used with a specific purpose, tools like Twitter can
shrink the world by carving out focus and expand
the horizon by introducing new ideas. Th e depth
and breadth of what I have learned through the
network I’ve started to build is amazing. Th ere are
so many people out there doing so many incred-
ible things that it’s impossible to describe it in this
small space. Time spent investigating social media
tools will be time well spent. Give it a try.
As MSU College of Education alumni, it
means we need to connect. Th e College of Educa-
tion is working hard to increase and improve its
Web presence with a complete redesign of the
main Web site. Visit www.education.msu.edu and
take a moment to complete the survey you find
there—we value your input! While you’re there,
take advantage of the links to Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn and Flickr. Join the hundreds of College
of Education alumni who are already fans of the
college on Facebook, following us on Twitter and
members of our group on LinkedIn. Strengthen
your connection with the college by sharing news
and resources with the network.
We look forward to hearing from you. See you
online!
Wendy Darga
Class of 1989 and 1992
COE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
from the PresidentCOE
polar research station for example, was
her favorite part. When she hosted a
live remote Webinar about the research
project, about 30 schools, a museum
and even a zoo logged on to listen.
“It was amazing knowing that I was
in Antarctica and they were all over the
country, talking to one another,” she
said, realizing her own students, and
almost all of South Lake High School,
had tuned in too.
Back in the classroom, she plans to
incorporate her new firsthand knowl-
edge into existing parts of the curricu-
lum and build more lessons beyond
today’s dated textbook pages.
Ultimately, Knippenberg—a teacher
who has been to the bottom of the earth
—hopes to hear more students say they
are headed toward their heights with ca-
reers in science, engineering and more.
“One of the things I remember
most from my science teaching classes
is the importance of making education
memorable,” she said. “I hope that I am
influencing them.”
“When used with a specific purpose, tools like Twitter can shrink the world by carving out focus and expand the horizon by introducing new ideas.”
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 41
A L U M N I
Teri Hepler, Ph.D. ’08 (kinesiology), received the 2010 Sport
and Exercise Psychology Dissertation Award from the Na-
tional Association for Sport and Physical Education (naspe)
for research likely to make a significant contribution to the
sport psychology knowledge base. Hepler is an assistant pro-
fessor in the Department of Human Performance and Physical
Education at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo.
Andrew Hugine, Jr., Ph.D. ’77 (higher education), has become
the 11th president of Alabama A&M University in Normal,
Ala. Hugine previously served as president of South Carolina
State University, where he spearheaded construction of a major
residence facility and staged the first debate in the 2008 Demo-
cratic Party Presidential Candidate Debate Series—the first such
distinction by a Historically Black College or University.
Jody Jessup-Anger, Ph.D. ’09 (higher, adult and lifelong educa-
tion), recently received the 2010 Burns B. Crookston Doctoral
Research Award for scholarship that brings greater under-
standing to the development of students or the administra-
tion of student aff airs. Jessup-Anger, who is now an assistant
professor at Marquette University, received the honor from
the acpa Professional Preparation Commission in March.
Nils Kauff man, Ph.D. ’09 (educational policy), received the
Gill-Chin Lim Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation
in Global Studies from the office of International Studies and
Programs at MSU. Kauff man, whose dissertation focused on
educational change in Moldova since the end of the Soviet
Union, is now working as a consultant with Miske Witt and
Associates, Inc. on a unicef-funded project to review stan-
dards of educational quality in seven countries of Central and
Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Dianne L. Hall Mark, BS ’79 (physical education), was named
dean of the Spadoni College of Education at Coastal Carolina
University in Conway, S.C. Previously, Mark was dean of the
College of Professional Studies at Bloomsburg University of
Pennsylvania and a professor and the associate dean of the
College of Education and Human Services at Central Michigan
University.
Th e staff and students of Grand Blanc School District in
Grand Blanc, Mich. paid tribute to the late Lillian G. Mason,
MA ’54 (elementary education), in December during a special
ceremony outside the elementary school named for her in
2003. Mason, who died in August 2009 at age 83, was a de-
voted educator who served on the district’s Board of Educa-
tion for 36 years, including 18 as president.
Gretchen (Sanford) Neisler, Ph.D. ’09 (higher education),
teaching certificate ’98 (agriscience), is now serving as associ-
ate provost for strategic planning at Albion College in Albion,
Mich. Sanford held several positions at MSU including, most
ALUMNI NOTES
First-year Teachers Win Grants
First-year teachers Alison Keller and Matt Robydek, who graduated as el-
ementary education majors in 2008, each wrote and successfully secured grants to
create new learning experiences for their students.
Keller, who works as a technology facilitator at Lyon School in Glenview, Ill.,
purchased smart Tables for each of the school district’s three primary schools
with $20,000 from the Glenview Education Foundation. Th e tables feature an
interactive touch surface and activities that promote collaboration and problem-
solving skills.
Robydek received a grant from the Assistance League of Southeastern
Michigan to implement an author study with his fifth-graders in Oxford, Mich.
Robydek, who used the $500 to purchase books, sought additional resources
when he noticed many students were lacking critical reading comprehension
strategies.
Hepler Hugine Jessup-Anger Kauff man Mark Mason Neisler Ngudgratoke
1st Lt. Nate Cave,
(far left) BS ’07 (ath-
letic training), was
selected for the U.S.
Army aviation pro-
gram in April 2008
and is now serving
as a Blackhawk pilot
on a tour of duty in
Iraq.
PHO
TO O
F LI
LLIA
N M
ASO
N P
ROVI
DED
BY
THE
FLIN
T JO
UR
NAL
n e w e d u c a t o r42
recently, assistant director of the Global Institute for Higher
Education and project director of the Pre-service Teacher
Education Program (Pre-step) in Pakistan.
Sungworn Ngudgratoke, Ph.D. ’09 (measurement and quan-
titative methods) received a bronze medal from the Office of
National Research Council of Th ailand for research on the
quality of Th ai science teachers he conducted while at MSU.
He was the only education researcher honored by the council
in 2009. Ngudgratoke is now an assistant professor teach-
ing educational measurement and instrument development
courses at Sukhothai Th ammathirat Open University in the
Nonthaburi province.
Jennifer (Vehko) Powell, BA ’87 (elemen-
tary education), wrote and illustrated
What I Saw on Mackinac, a hard-
cover counting book for toddlers
available this spring. Powell taught
for 10 years in the East China School District
near Port Huron, Mich. She moved to Mackinac County,
Mich. in 2000. Visit www.mackinacstraitspublishing.com.
Connie Tingson-Gatuz, MA ’95, Ph.D. ’09 (higher, adult and
lifelong education), received the 2010 Henry Gee Outstand-
ing Mentoring Award from the naspa Asian Pacific Islander
Knowledge Community for impacting the student aff airs
profession through her support of others. Tingson-Gatuz is
vice president for student aff airs at Madonna University in
Livonia, Mich.
Alumni Reunion Days
If you received a degree from the College of
Education in 1960 or before, you are invited to join
Dean Carole Ames for a special breakfast from
8 to 10 a.m. June 4 at Erickson Hall. The college
welcomes graduates back to campus for a 50-year reunion each year in
conjunction with MSU Alumni Reunion Days. Come, re-connect with friends
and share your memories. To register, visit www.msualum.com/reunion or call
(877) 678-2586. Questions? Call (517) 355-1787.
A
If
ED8
elwe comeses graduaduates back to
Kinesiology Graduate
Competes in Olympic
Bobsled Competition
Already an accomplished athlete, Michelle “Mickie”
Rzepka traded towering heights for lightning speeds a few
years ago. Th e former MSU pole vaulter’s venture into
bobsledding soon led to top World Cup finishes—and a
place on the world’s biggest stage.
Rzepka, a 2005 kinesiology graduate, took sixth place in
the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver. She competed as a
brakeman for driver Shauna Rohbock, who won the Silver
Medal in Torino.
“My dream as a girl was to be an Olympian,” Rzepka
said. “You want to win and be on the podium, but I’ll take
this experience with me forever. Th e competition was
intense.”
Although Rzepka was unable to medal, she is able to say
she represented Michigan State, Novi—her hometown—
and America proudly throughout her time in Vancouver.
Rzepka and Rohbock also posted start times within the
top-four during all four heats.
“Th is is a new track, with speeds we’ve never seen be-
fore. All the drivers struggled,” Rzepka said. “But I’m happy
that North America was represented well.”
U.S. teammates Erin Pac and Elana Meyers took home
the bronze medal, just behind sleds from Canada earning
the gold and silver.
While at MSU, Rzepka was an All-American and Big-10
indoor and outdoor pole vault champion. She joined the
U.S. World Cup bobsled team as a rookie in 2007, and
finished in the top-10 in seven of eight World Cup races
before heading to the Olympics.
>> compiled by Nicole Geary, MSU Athletic Communications and the Associated Press
|bios, photos & videos on the webwww.msuspartans.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/022410aag.htmlwww.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=10881
m
d
l
men-
d
Powell Tingson-Gatuz
union Dayysss
e from the College of
efore, you are invited to join
pecial breakfast from Kinesiology Graduate
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 43
A L U M N I
From the RED CEDAR to the GRAND
During the final months of World
War II, a far-sighted and significant
piece of federal legislation was passed:
Th e GI Bill of Rights. It was a dream
come true for returning GIs and for our
nation.
Idealistic and patriotic young men
and women had joined the armed forces
after growing up in the long depression,
and many were not aware of their poten-
tial. While in uniform, they were trained
to fly airplanes, command tanks, drive
ships and secure, along with our allies,
freedom for Europe, Asia and the Ameri-
cas. Th ey became confident with a can-
do attitude that had proven its mettle in
the crucible of history, and they wanted
the opportunity for further education, to
establish a career and to raise a family in
a newly energized America.
America’s land-grant colleges and
universities were, by purpose and com-
mitment, the ideal institutions for the
returning GIs. Michigan State College,
as one example, was blessed with a presi-
dent, John Hannah, who had a vision of
his institution’s role and future. As peace
returned, he marshaled all of the re-
sources on the campus along the banks of
East Lansing’s Red Cedar River. He knew
what was to come, and he was right.
Th e flood of mature students neces-
sitated a profound change at MSC. Th e
new students were older, and they were
goal-oriented, no-
nonsense veterans
who knew the
diff erence be-
tween theory and
practice, between
talk and action, between success and
failure. In many cases, the veterans were
interested in graduate and professional
education that had been postponed by
the draft or their decision to step up and
go to war.
President Hannah, with uncom-
mon foresight and an uncanny ability
to seize the moment, quickly converted
MSC to a year-round operation. He
also expanded the graduate program
(particularly the College of Education,
in anticipation of the predictable need
for teachers), and he ramped up both
continuing education and international
education so students could be better
prepared to accept responsibility in
America’s new role as an international
leader.
Th e College of Education’s walls
were on the very edge of the Red Cedar,
and it was this riverside college that
was to play a formative role in the life
of Philip Gannon. He was to become
the founding president of Lansing
Community College (just three miles
downstream, on the banks of the Grand
River) and a distinguished alumnus of
both Albion College and Michigan State
University.
When the war ended, U.S. Navy pilot
Philip Gannon took a post as a science
teacher in the Battle Creek, Mich. public
school system. He was married and try-
ing to decide whether to return to Duke
University to continue graduate studies
in biology or to enter the University of
Michigan or Michigan State College
to pursue a graduate degree in educa-
tional administration. Going to graduate
school was going to be a financial chal-
lenge, even with the help of the GI Bill.
Th ere was no aff ordable married
housing at Duke or UM, but John Han-
nah and MSC said, “Welcome, veterans!
We have aff ordable married housing in
our barracks apartments.” Philip and
Lois Gannon did the arithmetic, smiled
at $29 a month for rent and utilities, and
joined the Spartan family.
“The perfect runway”
Gannon’s memory of graduate study
focuses on how well he was prepared for
his career as president of Lansing Com-
munity College. Although there was a
set core of basic courses dealing with
leadership, budget and learning theory,
there also was a large block of credit
for independent study and research. An
enterprising graduate student had to
convince a faculty member to provide
a guiding and protective wing. Fortu-
nately for Gannon, the kindness and
willingness of several professors, and
the university’s initiation of this bold but
ancient Socratic teaching method, made
graduate school at MSC intellectually
stimulating and the perfect runway from
which to launch his professional career.
Several professors stand out in the
memory of LCC’s founding president,
including Carl Gross, Clyde Campbell,
Wilbur Brookover, William Roe and
John Useem.
Gross always pushed Gannon to take
a philosophical position and defend it
orally. One seminar had five students
JOHN HANNAH, PHILIP GANNON, AND THE FOUNDING OF
LANSING COMMUNITY COLLEGE
>> D A L E M . H E R D E R , P H . D . , P R O F E S S O R O F E N G L I S H A N D
V I C E P R E S I D E N T E M E R I T U S , L A N S I N G C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E
a proud graduate
Philip Gannon received two degrees from the MSU
College of Education: Master’s, Education (1954),
and Ph.D., Higher Education (1979).
n e w e d u c a t o r44
meet with Gross and top MSU adminis-
trators for lunch every other week. For
two terms they engaged in no-holds-
barred, dialogue-as-equals discussions
about educational theory and its ap-
plication.
Campbell set up a program in which
Gannon regularly rode north with him
to Belding, Mich., where Campbell was
teaching an off -campus class. Campbell
“picked a subject each week for me,
and I would present it on the way up
and defend it on the way home, finally
summarizing my position with a short
paper.”
Brookover arranged for Gannon to
work with him in a local school district
to develop a questionnaire, administer a
random sample of it, test it for validity,
analyze the returns and present it to the
local school administration. Gannon
recalls, “I quickly recognized the diff er-
ence between theory and practice when
I had to actually deliver a product that
could help a school system. Results were
my final grade.”
Useem allowed Gannon to under-
take individual study under his guidance
on topics in sociology and anthropology.
Useem’s questions challenged the young
Navy pilot’s understanding of society
and culture, and fed Gannon’s child-
hood fascination with the ways various
cultures solve problems and educate
their young.
“An irrevocable turn”
Philip Gannon’s life took an irrevocable
turn when he was working as a staff
research assistant and graduate student
in the Extension Urban Center on the
Michigan State campus. Located in
the new Kellogg Center, the Extension
Urban Center conducted studies of all
kinds for Michigan’s urban areas that
paralleled the university’s land-grant
service to farmers and agribusinesses.
In 1956, the center was contacted by
Lansing School District to determine
the feasibility of establishing a technical
college in downtown Lansing that could
train employees for local businesses, the
State Highway Department and local
Oldsmobile factories.
Gannon was selected by Lansing
School District to conduct the feasibil-
ity study, and educational history has
unfolded ever since along the banks of
the Red Cedar and Grand rivers. During
Dean Gannon with Lansing School District board member Clarence Rosa as they evaluate a model of the future Lansing Community College campus.
.
If President John Hannah had not opened MSC’s door to returning veterans, and if he had not been quietly supportive of Philip Gannon and Lansing Community College, the confl uence of the Red Cedar and Grand rivers might never have been paralleled by a confl uence of practical educational ideas.
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 45
A L U M N I
the early months after the founding of
Lansing Community College in 1957,
Gannon periodically called upon Presi-
dent Hannah for advice or a helping
hand. Hannah never hesitated to give
help, and over the years MSU always
was a firm friend.
In 1957, the National Defense Educa-
tion Act was passed. It emphasized sci-
ence, mathematics and post-secondary
technical education. Michigan also
desired its junior colleges to become
more comprehensive. Th ese suggestions
and principles were part of Gannon’s
feasibility study that was accepted by the
Lansing Board of Education. Th e board
appointed Gannon to establish and lead
the new college, and he further devel-
oped ideas, principles and objectives
that were to become an integral part of
LCC. For example:
• Th e college would operate year-round,
day and evening, six days a week.
• Learning would be the constant and
time the variable whenever possible.
• Mastery of subject matter would be
primary, and breadth of material
would be secondary.
• Programs would be of equal excel-
lence and of varying diffi culty.
• “Community” in “community col-
lege” would be defi ned as local, state,
national and international.
• Self-paced instruction would be used
wherever appropriate.
• Th e use of technology would be
emphasized wherever it enhanced
learning or effi ciency of operation.
If President John Hannah had
not opened MSC’s door to returning
veterans, and if he had not been quietly
supportive of Gannon and Lansing
Community College, the confluence
of the Red Cedar and Grand rivers
might never have been paralleled by
a confluence of practical educational
ideas. Th is confluence spawned a com-
munity college that today educates and
trains over 30,000 students per year just
three blocks from our State Capitol.
“A full pucker ride”
President Gannon retired from LCC in
1989 after leading and serving the “baby”
he had birthed 32 years earlier. From
1989–1994 he did consulting work in
the United Arab Emirates, Japan, China,
Taiwan, Vietnam and Hungary. He and
Lois, now married for 59 years, still are
fit and active, and they revel in their
summers at Long Lake near Traverse
City, Mich., while providing leadership
on various committees in their Shell
Point Retirement Community during
winters in Fort Myers, Fla.
For the past five years, the now
87-year-old Navy pilot spent his summer
days in a hangar as he built a Challenger
II airplane. Still exhibiting his “can-do”
attitude, he flew Th e Spirit of Shell Point
this past July. His flight from the tiny
Th ompsonville, Mich. airport paralleled
his career. It was full of bumps and sur-
prises, and shifting winds kept him fully
alert, fully focused.
His description of his landing sum-
marizes well his 32 years of leadership
and service:
“I made my downwind run, turned
left and started my descent. All was
going satisfactorily until I neared the
runway. Th en a gust of wind hit me.
I pulled the nose up, hit the throttle,
bounced to a hard landing and
stopped. I blinked, thanked God for
taking care of old fools, and taxied to
the hangar after what they say in the
old Navy was a ‘full pucker’ ride.”
Retired Lansing Community College president Philip Gannon after his July 31, 2009 inaugural fl ight of the experimental aircraft he had built in the previous fi ve years.
. . . This confl uence spawned a community college that today educates and trains over 30,000 students per year just three blocks from our State Capitol.
n e w e d u c a t o r46
Distinguished Alumni Award
Th ree-time MSU graduate Deborah Loewenberg Ball has undoubtedly
become one of the most influential
scholars in education, a force for
transforming mathematics teaching
and improving how the nation prepares
teachers.
Now dean of the University of Mich-
igan School of Education, Ball began her
pioneering work on the mathematical
knowledge needed for eff ective teaching
(MKT) as a graduate student and then
faculty member in the MSU College of
Education. She has drawn on 13 years
of experience as an elementary teacher
in East Lansing and over $25 million
in funded research to develop new
understandings about math instruction
to enhance student learning. Her work
calls her to university classrooms and
top-level panels and commissions for
defining policy and standards. Known
for building consensus, especially among
educators and mathematicians, Ball was
the first education trustee at the Math-
ematical Sciences Research Institute.
She also recently chaired the subgroup
on teaching for the Presidential National
Mathematics Advisory Panel.
Driven by a deep respect for the
teaching profession, Ball contributes
significantly to the national debate about
restructuring teacher education and
reflects those eff orts through program
changes now underway at UM. She has
provided exemplary leadership and ser-
vice to students as dean for the past five
years, all the while continuing her own
extensive scholarship. Ball, the William
H. Payne Collegiate Professor in Educa-
tion, is a featured speaker around the
world, the author of over 100 publica-
tions and the recipient of the Palmer O.
Johnson Memorial Award for best article
published in an aera journal. She was
elected to the prestigious National Acad-
emy of Education in 2007 and, in 2008,
received the Louise Hay Award for Con-
tributions to Mathematics Education.
Th rough her many accomplish-
ments, Ball credits her commitment to
k–12 schools, and her capacity to inno-
vate and challenge, to MSU. She earned
her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral de-
grees from the College of Education and,
when seated among fellow UM leaders
in their robes and hoods for commence-
ment, she wears her Spartan green.
| on the webwww-personal.umich.edu/~dballwww.soe.umich.edu/dean
Outstanding Alumni K–12
Teacher Award
A 1998 graduate of the MSU teacher
preparation program, Greta McHaney-Trice has evolved from an enthusiastic
teacher intern into a model educator
who, as one nominator noted, “teaches
wherever she goes.”
Second-graders at Forest View
Elementary School in Lansing, Mich.
are now the primary beneficiaries of
McHaney-Trice’s powerful classroom
methods, which rely on students’ ques-
tions and interests as a road map and
grow out of a concern for engaging
all learners. She also fostered parent
involvement and high academic perfor-
mance at Averill Elementary in Lansing
School District during the first nine
years of her career, starting in 1999.
McHaney-Trice, who received a
master’s degree in curriculum and
teaching from MSU in 2004, has opened
her heart and her classroom to create
learning experiences for many others
along the way. Faculty members gladly
send prospective teachers to observe
her in action for the field component of
their courses. Never too busy to serve
her alma mater, McHaney-Trice is a
committed teacher educator who has
inspired teacher candidates to acquire
higher standards and ambitions. She
is also enthusiastic about professional
development opportunities through
research, and recently collaborated on
a poetry teaching project with assistant
professor Janine Certo.
McHaney-Trice’s commitment to
diversity and social justice is evident
through the many learning communi-
ties with which she associates. She is a
planning co-chair for the North Dakota
Study Group on Evaluation, a national
panel focused on improving education
for children from poor, minority and
immigrant families. She also embraces
diverse perspectives as a leader of lat-
tice (Linking All Types of Teachers to
International Cross-cultural Education)
and has welcomed international scholars
into her classroom. Said fellow lattice
leaders: “We are always amazed by her
ability to shine, even on cloudy days.”
Alumni Association Honors Two Outstanding GraduatesThese prestigious awards were presented at the College of Education’s annual
Awards Reception, which also honors more than 150 scholarship and fellowship
recipients, on April 9 at the Kellogg Center.
Deborah Loewenberg Ball
GretaMcHaney-Trice
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 47
A L U M N I
Renowned educational assessment
expert Rick Stiggins says he built his
career on the basis of doctoral study in
MSU’s College of Education.
Now he hopes to help his alma
mater became the nation’s leader on im-
proving teacher training in assessment.
Stiggins, who received his Ph.D. in
educational psychology in 1972, estab-
lished the Rick Stiggins Endowment in
Classroom Assessment at MSU to iden-
tify the barriers preventing pre-service
programs from producing educators
who can eff ectively use day-to-day as-
sessment strategies with their students.
Th e U.S. has become overly obsessed
with major standardized tests as a bench-
mark for achievement, Stiggins said.
“It’s okay to think about account-
ability testing,” he said. “But unless
teachers understand how to carry out
productive day-to-day evaluations
of student learning, then assessment
will not reach its potential as a school
improvement tool.”
Th e new endowment pays for faculty
research, field testing and conferences,
including a two-day seminar in Erickson
Hall last January that was attended by
representatives from seven education
institutions across the country.
“Stiggins’ gift will enable the
creation of a national, perhaps even
international, network of teacher and
principal educators who are invested
and experienced in preparing teachers
and administrators to use the range of
assessments available to them,” said Su-
zanne Wilson, chair person of the MSU
Department of Teacher Education.
“Th e network will allow profession-
als to share research, best practices and
curriculum that support the develop-
ment of assessment literacy and exper-
tise among all educators.”
Stiggins, who created the successful
Portland, Oregon–based Assessment
Training Institute for educators believes
the MSU College of Education has the
commitment and potential needed to
generate widespread changes—starting
with its own top-ranked teacher educa-
tion program.
“MSU is, by reputation and reality,
an international center for innovative
thinking about teacher preparation,” he
said. “It’s a high-powered place—and a
place I love.”
A career comes full circle
Stiggins recalls working with great fac-
ulty members, including Lee Shulman,
Robert Ebel and Joe Byers, who allowed
him to create a doctoral study program
that was rich with hands-on learning op-
portunities and tailored to his interests
in measurement and evaluation.
His MSU experience provided the
knowledge and skills he needed to
serve as director of test development
at ACT in Iowa City and later direc-
tor of research and development in
performance and classroom assessment
at the Northwest Regional Educational
“Research tells us that classroom assessment can do far more than merely monitor and grade student learning. It can actually cause learning when it’s used in productive ways.”
ENNDODOWMWMEENT FUUNDNDS RESEARCHH TOTTOO I IMPPM ROOVE TTEEACHER PRPRREEPARARATATION ININ CRITICAL AREA
CONCENTRATING ON
Classroom Assessme
PHO
TO B
Y EM
ILY
BRO
ZOVI
C
n e w e d u c a t o r48
to make a donationTo make a donation online to an endowed fund
established with the College of Education or to
view a complete listing of funded endowments,
visit www.education.msu.edu. Simply click on
“Endowed Funds” under “Giving.”
Recognize an Educator, Support the Educators of Tomorrow
nt
>> N I C O L E G E A R Y
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION / GIVING
Development Digest
Laboratory in Portland.
Stiggins soon turned his attention to
classroom assessment exclusively and,
in 1990, he and his wife Nancy Bridg-
eford created the Assessment Training
Institute (ATI) to support educators as
they face the challenges of day-to-day
assessment. Th e typical teacher spends a
quarter to a third of their time involved
in grading, testing and other assessment
activities.
At ATI, Stiggins and his colleagues
developed professional development
experiences needed to fill chronic gaps
in ‘assessment literacy’ among teachers
and school administrators.
And the profitable business eventu-
ally gave him the means to give back.
ATI is now owned by Pearson.
“Th is is a big thank you,” Stiggins said
of his decision to invest in MSU, where
his commitment to improving teacher
practices will continue—and grow.
“Our dream is to create a con-
sortium of institutions that want to
collaborate in providing high-quality
assessment training for their teacher
candidates. But we have a lot to learn.”
You are cordially invited to select an educator to receive recognition at the
College of Education capstone event. Th e Crystal Apple dinner on Friday, Octo-
ber 29, 2010 at the Kellogg Center will provide a forum for our donors to honor
the accomplishments of educators whose excellence, commitment and passion
represent the very best in education.
Th e College of Education Crystal Apple Award is a way to honor an educa-
tor, selected by a donor or group of donors, as being representative of excellence
and commitment. Th e opportunity to select a recipient of the Crystal Apple
Award is a benefit to donors of the College of Education Leadership Circle. Th e
Leadership Circle is distinctive to the College of Education and is made up of
individuals who are dedicated to supporting the eff orts of the college through
annual gifts of $1,500 or more. Groups of donors whose gifts total $1,500 are also
able to honor an educator with this prestigious recogni-
tion. Undesignated gifts made in honor of these outstand-
ing educators are designated for the Excellence Fund of
the College of Education, which provides scholarship
assistance to worthy students.
Teachers, professors, administrators and counselors—
currently or previously employed in a learning community,
from preschool through the university level—are eligible
to receive the award. Th is is your personal statement; honorees need not be
affiliated with Michigan State University.
Th e keynote speaker for the 2010 Crystal Apple Award dinner is Michigan’s
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mike Flanagan. Flanagan was appointed
to his position by the State Board of Education in 2005. He directs the Michigan
Department of Education; chairs the State Board of Education; and advises the
State Board of Education, the governor and the state Legislature regarding public
education in Michigan.
To honor the career of an outstanding educator, or to request additional
information about the Crystal Apple Award, contact the development office at
(517) 432-1983.
Michelle Mertz
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 49
D E V E L O P M E N T
EDUCATORS RECEIVE RED-CARPET TREATMENT AT CRYSTAL APPLE AWARDS
The College of Education
honored 21 professionals for outstanding careers in education
during the 2009 Crystal Apple Awards. Th e event, held Nov.
20 at the Kellogg Center, featured an elegant dinner, a keynote
address from MSU professor of economics Charles L. Ballard
and tributes to each distinguished recipient.
The Crystal Apple Awards
were established as a way for donors to recognize educators
who played a significant role in their lives and who represent
a commitment to the teaching profession. Th e opportunity
to select a recipient is a benefit to donors in the College of
Education Leadership Circle.
The 2010 Crystal Apple Awards
will be held on Friday, Oct. 29. If you are interested in
selecting a recipient, contact Julie Bird, assistant director of
development, at (517) 432-1983 or [email protected] theWinners are…
n e w e d u c a t o r50
Margaret Baldwin
Principal, Colt Elementary School,
Waverly Community Schools,
Lansing, Mich.
nominators: Ann Austin-Beck
& John Beck
Marvin H. Bartell
Executive director, Associated Colleges of
the Chicago Area, Elmwood Park, Ill.
nominators: John & Beth Haubenstricker
Maenette K. P. Benham
Dean, Hawai’inuiākea School of Hawaiian
Knowledge, University of Hawaii at
Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.
nominator: Th e Richard Lee Featherstone
Society
Lana Weiss Brown
MSU Chicago Cohort Coordinator,
Chicago, Ill.
nominator: Cassandra Book
Deborah de Laski-Smith
Interim dean, Graduate School and
College of Health and Human Services,
Eastern Michigan University,
Ypsilanti, Mich.
nominator: Elaine M. Tripi
Lillian G. Demas
Principal, International Academy of
Macomb, Chippewa Valley Schools,
Clinton Township, Mich.
nominator: Barbara & Jim Markle
Gail M. Dummer
Professor emerita, Department of
Kinesiology, College of Education,
Michigan State University,
East Lansing, Mich.
nominator: Janet Wessel
Worsie L. Gregory
Director of magnet schools and programs,
Lansing School District, Lansing, Mich.
nominators: Fred & Janet Tinning
Don Hellison
Professor of educational psychology
and kinesiology, University of Illinois at
Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
nominator: Dan Gould
Saiid Mahjoory
International/domestic student advisor,
Lansing Community College,
Lansing, Mich.
nominators: Shahriar Ghoddousi
& Shamsdokht Shams
Jeri Mifflin
Principal, Bennett Woods Elementary
School, Okemos, Mich.
nominator: Donna Forrest-Pressley
Ingrid Munck
Professor emerita, Faculty of Education,
University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
nominators: Jack & Sharon Schwille
Karin Allor Pfeiffer
Assistant professor, Department of
Kinesiology, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, Mich.
nominators: Henry & Betty Montoye
William J. Price
Professor of educational leadership,
Department of Leadership and
Counseling, Eastern Michigan University,
Ypsilanti, Mich.
nominator: Jaclynn C. Tracy
Alysia D. Roehrig
Assistant professor, Department of
Educational Psychology and Learning
Systems, College of Education, Florida
State University, Tallahassee, Fla.
nominator: Donna Forrest-Pressley
Harriet B. Rotter
Attorney-at-law and counselor, former
12th grade teacher, Berkley High School,
Berkley, Mich.
nominators: Patricia Widmayer,
Lawrence Widmayer & Lawrence Glazer
Amy L. Smitter
Director of institutional development,
Campus Compact, Boston, Mass.
nominator: Jacquelyn Taylor
Carol P. Thorsen
Paraprofessional and director, Okemos
Special Needs Day Camp, Okemos Public
Schools, Okemos, Mich.
nominators: Marilyn J. Amey & Dennis F.
Brown, Glenn J. & Sherry L. Bukoski, Joan
L. Castillo, Duane G. & Janet L. Clarke,
Gail M. Dummer, Kimberly L. Ford,
Steve & Kathy Forrest, Susan K. & James
Herman, Lynn A. & Michael D. Kavanagh,
Edward D. & Mary I. Lanigan, Lawrence
E. Leece, Amy M. & Jesse I. Lothamer,
Sandra Jean McDonald, Duane C. or
Dixie B. Miller, Th omas C. or Melinda
K. Motz, Esther Onaga, Robert & Mary
Opsommer, William J. & Pamela J. Perrone,
Jane & Craig Pilditch, Mark & Catherine
Stevenson, G. J. & A. J. Switzer.
Christopher A. Wigent
Superintendent, Wayne County RESA,
Wayne, Mich.
nominators: William & Karen Mayes
Carmelita K. Williams
Professor emerita, Norfolk State
University, Virginia Beach, Va.
nominator: Patricia A. Edwards
Laurie Zittel
Professor and director of graduate studies,
adapted physical activity, Northern Illinois
University, DeKalb, Ill.
nominator: Janet Wessel
DES
IGN
CO
NC
EPT
BY E
MIL
Y B
ROZO
VIC
s p r i n g / s u m m e r 2 0 1 0 51
C R Y S T A L A P P L E
52
Across the nation, from large urban
centers to small rural districts, many
schools have turned to instructional
teacher leader roles as a means to
improve teaching and learning. To assist
their teacher colleagues, instructional
teacher leaders conduct professional
development workshops, co-plan and
model lessons, observe teaching and
provide feedback, collect and analyze
data, facilitate dialogue and reflective
critique, and promote shared practices
among peers. Performing this role
requires extensive content knowledge as
well as unique procedural knowledge—
the ability to be both an authoritative
expert and a trustworthy peer. Although
these roles have expanded nationwide,
few educational programs have been
developed to meet the training needs of
instructional teacher leaders. As such,
many instructional teacher leaders are
forced to “make it up as they go along,” a
high-risk strategy when student learning
is at stake.
Th e perception of instructional
teacher leadership as a useful school
improvement strategy is reflected in
various large-scale reform eff orts.
Recently, instructional teacher leader
roles have received support from federal
initiatives in-
cluding Reading
First and the Math Science Partnership;
private foundations, such as the Small
Schools Coaches Collaborative funded
by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation;
comprehensive school reform models,
such as America’s Choice and Success
for All; and professional organizations,
such as the National Staff Development
Council. Each of these initiatives incor-
porates teacher leadership as a means
to increase teachers’ and students’ op-
portunities to learn.
Present-day instructional teacher
leader roles mark a departure from
the teacher leader initiatives
of the 1980s and early 1990s.
At that time, positions such
as master, lead and mentor
teacher were seen as a way to
decentralize authority, include
teachers in shared decision
making, improve morale,
enhance teachers’ work and
tap into previously underused resources.
Despite the possible benefits, those
positions were criticized for focusing
on individual job enhancement rather
than on collective improvement and for
directing teachers’ energy toward mana-
gerial tasks instead of instruction. New
roles for teacher leaders continue to tap
teachers as an underused resource but
focus more intentionally on collective
instructional improvement.
Instructional teacher leaders face
many challenges. Th ey must be able to
identify and address teachers’ learn-
ing needs with appropriate content
knowledge. Teacher leaders must build
trust with their teacher colleagues while
simultaneously working to break down
norms of teacher autonomy. Th ey must
negotiate the design and enactment of
their role with school administrators
who may not fully understand the aims
of teacher leadership. Th ese challenges
are made more difficult by the lack of
educational resources for instructional
teacher leaders. While professional
associations provide some assistance,
universities have been uneven in their
development of formal programs of
study for aspiring and practicing in-
structional teacher leaders.
One of the key barriers to develop-
ing educational programs for teacher
leaders is the historic divide between
departments of teacher and administra-
tor education. Traditionally, these have
been viewed as distinct disciplines.
Despite this disciplinary divide, some
state departments of education have cre-
ated teacher leader endorsements that
are dependent, in part, upon completion
of graduate level coursework in teacher
leadership (e.g., Illinois, Louisiana and
Georgia). In those states, institutions of
higher education have been motivated
to collaborate across departments to
develop programs of study that provide
the content and leadership knowledge
necessary for eff ective instructional
teacher leadership.
Even in the absence of teacher
leader endorsements, the growth of
instructional teacher leader roles neces-
sitates greater collaboration between
departments of teacher and administra-
tor education. Not only would inter-
departmental collaboration facilitate the
development of high quality learning
opportunities for instructional teacher
leaders, it also reflects the kind of
professionalism we encourage in k–12
schools.
“. . . many instructional teacher leaders are forced to “make it up as they go along,” a high-risk strategy when student learning is at stake.”
I N S T R U C T I O N A L L E A D E R S H I P
Teacher Leaders Need Training, Support
read more
Mangin is the co-author, with Sara Ray Stoelinga,
of Examining Eff ective Teacher Leadership: A
Case Study Approach, published in January 2010
by Teachers College Press.
melinda m. mangin
assistant professor,
k–12 educational administration
n e w e d u c a t o r52
F I N A L T H O U G H T S
C O L L E G E O F E D U C A T I O N A L U M N I A S S O C I A T I O N
2009 |2010 board of directors
OFFICERS
Wendy Darga, PresidentMedia and Technology Teacher, Hart Middle School, Rochester Hills, MI
Jan Amsterburg, Ph.D., Vice PresidentSuperintendent, Gratiot-Isabella Regional Education Service District, Ithaca, MI
Janice Colliton, Ph.D., SecretaryRetired Assistant Superintendent, Farmington Public Schools, Farmington, MI
Sue Gutierrez, TreasurerAssistant Principal, Northern Hills Middle School, Grand Rapids, MI
DI RECTORS
Bersheril Bailey
Senior Program Associate for High School Innovation, Learning Point Associates, Lansing, MI
Gary Bredahl
School Improvement Consultant, Southern Regional Education Board, Okemos, MI
Joseph Chiaramonte
Retired Director of Dealer Learning and Development, Steelcase, Grand Rapids, MI
Dale Ann Hopkins
Technology Program Consultant, Rochester Community Schools, Rochester, MI
John Jobson, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean of Students/Director of Residential Life and Housing, Hope College, Holland, MI
Gunnard Johnson
Retired Superintendent and Consultant for the Michigan Association of School Boards, Lake Odessa, MI
William Mayes
Executive Director, Michigan Association of School Administrators, Lansing, MI
Don Patten
Teacher and Coach, Coopersville High School, Coopersville, MI
Catherine Pavick
Director of Education, International Facility Management Association, Houston, TX
William Price, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Leadership & Counseling, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
Janet Prybys
Launch Into Teaching Induction Coordinator, MSU College of Education, East Lansing, MI
Kathryn Rodgers
Retired Principal, Fowlerville Community Schools, East Lansing, MI
Sabrina Smith-Campbell
Educational Consultant, Southeastern MI
Patricia Trelstad
Assistant Superintendent, Okemos Public Schools, Okemos, MI
ALTERNATE
Rebecca Brewer
Coordinator of Student Orientation Programs, Lansing Community College, Lansing, MI
YOU NG ALU M N I REPRESENTATIVE
Mitchell Fowler
Teacher, Pennfield Middle School, Battle Creek, MI
STU DENT REPRESENTATIVES
Dana Voelker
Graduate Student Representative
Kathryn Cefaratti
Undergraduate Student RepresentativeTOM
STA
NU
LIS
NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
EAST LANSING, MI
PERMIT #21College of Education518 Erickson HallEast Lansing, MI 48824-1034
www.education.msu.edu
TOM
STA
NU
LIS